Spáth qes te Slílk'yap
View Story →
Háwe
Receiving a xwélmexw name
View Story →
Skw'ékw'qáq
How the Robin got his red breast
View Story →
Tháyem te Léx̲wtel
View Story →
X̲ex̲pítsel
How the chipmunk got its stripes
View Story →
X̲pá:yelhp
View Story →
Lets'lóts'tel
View Story →
Yeláwel éy
View Story →
Hálx̲eywa
View Story →
Xwe'ít te swáyel Létse
View Story →
Xwe'ít te swáyel Isá:le
View Story →
Xwe'ít te swáyel Lhí:xw
View Story →
Xwe'ít te swáyel X̲eó'thel
View Story →
Xwe'it te swayel Lhq'á:tses
View Story →
Ye Spipáth
View Story →
Sásq'ets
Sasquatch Story

Sásq'ets
Listen to the elder Yámalot

Sásq'ets

Lets'áxw kw'eselh olu plhát te máqe.
one-time that-past very thick DET snow
One time, the snow was very thick.
Li ye selyólexwe. Ilólets'e álhtel li te lá:lém.
AUX the old.people alone they in DET house
There were some old people. They were alone in the house.
Le tl'ékw'el te héyeqws álhtel.
AUX go.out DET fire-of them
Their fire went out.
Su ewéta lhq'él:exw wes éwe is e kw'e xwe'í:t.
so nothing knowing if-it not AUX-it DETwhat.do
They didn’t know what they were going to do.
Su me xwíy te swíyeqe.
So AUX wake.up DET man
So then the man woke up.
Osu xéte “Xwe'í:ttsetcha kwa?”
so say (he) what.do-we-will EMPH
He said: “What are we going to do?”
Lóye te máqe qó:qetet!
just DET snow drink-we
We only have snow to drink.
Osú la áxeth álhtel.
So AUX lie.down they
So they lay down.
Léxwethet, tl'o kw'ses ólu x̲éytl'.
cover-selves it (was) that-it (was) very cold.
They covered themselves up, because it was very cold.
Úkw' te siyólhs álhtel.
run.out DET firewood-of them
Their firewood ran out.
Kw'e me wóyel qelát, su le kw'áts te swíyeqe lám te skw'echó:stel.
when come dawn again so AUX look tDET man P(direction) DET window
When the dawn came again, the man looked through the window
Su x̲éte “Oh my! Me kw'etslóxwes kw'e tewátes! Máythóxwes!”
so say (he) Oh my! AUX see-us-he DET somebody help-us-he (they)
He said “Oh my! Somebody has seen us! They’ve helped us!”
“Le tí:ltes te xálhtset.”
AUX clear-he(they) DET road-our
“They’ve cleared our road.”
Su la áxeth álhtel qelát. Léxwethet.
so AUX lie.down they again cover-selves (they)
So they went and lay down again. They covered themselves up.
Osú ts'lhá:metes kw'e wel shxwtl'ó:s le péxw li te axelésmels te xálh.
So hear-they DET very loud.noise AUX thump P (direction) DET front.of.house-its DET door
And then they heard a loud noise which thumped at the front of the door.
Le kw'áts te swíyeqe qelát.
AUX look DET man again
The man went and looked again.
Osú x̲éte “Oh my! Me th'éxwmetóxwes kw'e tewátes.
say (he) Oh my, AUX pity-us-he DET somebody
So he said “Oh my! Someone took pity on us!"
Me chiyólhtólém.
AUX have.firewood-us
Somebody brought us some wood.
“Oh my!“ x̲ete, su xwmáxes te xálh.
“Oh my!” (he) say so open-he DET door
“Oh my!“ he said. So he opened the door.
Tewátes kw'e tí:lt te teqtá:ltset. Xwem kw'es xwemás te teqtá:ltset.
somebody DET clear DET door-our can that open-it the door-our
Somebody cleared our door. We can open our door again.
Su me petáxwtes te siyólh. Ew slekwlí:kw ó te siyó:lh.
so AUX pack.it-he the firewood EMPH broken-up the firewood
So he packed the wood in. It was all broken up.
“Tewát kw'e lekwlékwet ye siyó:lh?” x̲éte te slhá:lí.
(be) who that breaking DET firewood say DET woman
“Who broke the firewood?” said the woman.
X̲éte te swíyeqe “Ewétel lhq'él:exw. Th'ex̲wmetóxwes kw'e tewátes.”
say DET man nothing-my knowing.it pity-us-he DET somebody
The man said: “I don’t know. Somebody took pity on us.”
Su yéqwelchep álhtel.
so build.fire they
So they built a fire.
Osú qó:lem te má:qe. Su yexwyóxwetes. Qesu xwéts ti álhtel.
so scoop some snow so melting.it-they. and.so get tea they
So they scooped up some snow. They melted it. And so they had some tea
kwe la léx̲wethet álhtel, kw'es xwel x̲éytl'.
AUX AUX cover-selves they that still cold
They went back and covered up with their blankets again, because it was still cold.
Su me xwíy álhtel qelát. Ts'lhámetes álhtel te shxwtl'ó:s le la péx̲w.
so AUX wake.up they again hear.it-they they DET loud.noise AUX AUX thump
So they woke up again. They heard a loud noise that thumped.
Le kw'áts lam te teqˡtá:l. Ulh li tethá te sméyéth.
AUX look (he) P(direction) DET door. already P (direction) there (was) DET meat
He looked out the door. There was some meat.
“Oh my me th'éx̲wmetóxwes tewátes te tl'eqtéle.”
Oh my, AUX pity-us-he somebody (with) DET deer
“Oh my, somebody pitied us and brought us a deer!”
Qesú me xwekw'óstes te tl'eqtéle. Kwtáxwtes
and.so AUX drag-it-he DET deer bring.inside-it-he
And so he started dragging the deer. He brought it inside.
Qá:su kw'íts te swíyeqe.
And.so cut.it DET man
The man cut it up.
Su la álhtellómet álhtel. Ts'ahéyelh álhtel:
so AUX eat they pray they
So they managed to eat. They prayed:
“Ts'ithómetsel xólhmet tewátes xólhmetóxw.”
hank-you-I (the one who) look.after somebody look.after-us
“I thank whoever it is who is looking after us.”
Su ō ts'ás'el ew xwoyíwel álhtel
so just very EMPH happy they
So they were very happy.
Qesu leq'émestes te láléms.
and.so clean.up.it-they the house- their
And so they cleaned up their house.
Th'exwí:ls. Qólem te máqe, su yóxwetes tl'o qos álhtel.
dish.washed (they) scoop some snow (they) so melt.it-they it is (was) water-of them
They washed the dishes. They scooped up some snow,and melted if for their water.
Su hó:y kw'es eyóyes álhtel su la áx̲eth qelát
so finish that AUX working they so AUX lie.down again (they)
They finished their work, they got tired and went back to bed.
Su qelát me xwíy.
so again AUX wake.up (they)
So they woke up again.
“Qe ulh li kw'e thá kw'e tewátes. Oh my! I tí:ltem te xálhtset!”
and already P(direction) DET there DET somebody. oh my AUX cleared DET road-our
“Somebody has been there again. Oh my! Our road has been cleared!”
“Tewát yu kw'e i th'íth'ex̲wmet-óxw éwelh me kwetxwílem
who AUX DET P (location) pitying-us never AUX go.inside
“Whoever it is who is helping us never comes in.”
Osu lhx̲é:ylex te swíyeqe li te skw'chóstel.
so standing DET man at DET window
So the man was standing by the window.
Kw'ókw'etstes tewátes kw'e me th'íth'exw me te álhtel.
looking-at.it-he somebody DET AUX pity AUX DET them
He was looking to see who was coming to help them.
Qe ewéta kw'e tewát me x̲élqthet.
But nothing DET somebody AUX show-self
But no-one showed themselves.
Osu la í:mex tútl'ó. Le xwa (te) stetíl te xálhs.
so AUX walking he AUX become cleared the road-their
So he went for a walk. Their road was all clear.
“My!” Kw'étslexwes te sx̲éyltel.
My! see-it-he DET tracks
“My!” He saw tracks.
Su le kwetwílem q'ó:lthet. Li yéthestes te stó:les.
so AUX go.inside (he) return P (location) tell-it-her the wife-his
So he went back inside again. He told his wife about it.
“Oh my! Is kw'e xwe'ít ses me th'éxmetóxwes te sásq'ets.
oh my AUX DET why AUX AUX pity-us -he DET sasquatch
"Oh my! I wonder why the Sasquwatch took pity on us?”
x̲éte te siyó:lexwe: “Wel the'í:t e?“ Wel the'í:t?”
say (she) DET Elder (is it) really true (it is) really true
“Is it really true?” asked the old lady. “It’s true.”
“Qéx̲ te sx̲éyltels i te s'átl'q.”
many (are) DET the track-his P (location) DET outside
“There are lots of his tracks outside.”
“Oh my! Éwe is olu qél ye sásq'ets. We is kw'e me th'íth'ex̲wmetóxwes?”
oh my not AUX-it very bad DET sasquatch. if aux-it DET AUX pitying-us-he
“Oh my! Sasquatches are not all bad. Why else would he take pity on us?”
“Chím se sí:simetem ye mestí:yexw?”
why AUX being.afraid DET people
“Why are the people scared of him?”
Osu ts'ahéyelh álhtel.
and.so praying they
And so they prayed.
Ts'ahéyelh. Ts'ítem te sásq'ets, tl'ó me th'éxmet álhtel.
praying (they) thank DET sasquatch it-was-he (who) AUX pity them
They prayed. They thanked the Sasquatch, because it was him who came and helped them.
Su pétem te siyólexwe swíyeqe: “Le chí:m ses telexwes kw'set íkw'eló?“
so ask DET old man. AUX how AUX-it find.out-it- he that-we (were) here
So the old man was asking: “How did he find out that we were here?”
“Oh,” x̲éte “Ewéta t'wá héyeqw la átl'qel. Éwe is p'óp'etl'em te shxwélems te sp'ótl'em.”
oh say (he) nothing must.be fire AUX outside not AUX-it smoke DET place DET smoke
“Oh” he said, “I guess there was no fire outside. No smoke was coming out of the chimney.”
“Ewéta héyeqwtset. Tl'óses me chiyólhtólém.”
nothing (was) fire-our. it-is AUX-he gather.firewood.for-us
“We didn’t have fire. That’s why he came and brought us firewood.”
“Lhq'él:exwes sewéta s'álhteltset.”
know-it- he nothing food-our
“He knew that we didn’t have any food.”
“Íkw'eló ewéta héyeqwtset. Tl'óses me áx̲wetólém te tl'aqtéle.”
here (was) nothing fire-our It-is-it AUX give-us (he) DET deer
“And we had no fire here. That’s why he came and gave us the deer.”
“Th'íth'exwmetóx̲wes te Siya:m. Tl'ó te te Siyá:m me tssát te sásq'ets,” xéte álhtel.
pitying-us-he DET respected.one. it-was DET respected.one AUX send DET sasquatch say they
“The Lord pitied us. It was the Lord who sent the sasquatch,” they said.
Hóy tel sqwélqwel
(it is) finished DET-my story
“My story is finished.”

Audio Halq'eméylem English
xwel still
x̲wém fast, hurry
yéqwelchep to build a fire
úkw' to run out, get finished
máqa snow (on ground)
plhá:t to be thick
silyó:lh pieces of wood, pieces of firewood
lhex̲é:ylex be standing
xálh road, trail, door
p'óp'etl'em smoking
xólhmet to look after (him/her)
kwetxwí:lem go inside
yex̲wyex̲wet untieing s-th, unravelling s-th, unwinding it, unwrapping it, loosen sth, unlacing it
kwtáxwt to let inside
lewklwket to break something into many pieces
axelésmel in front of, front of a house
qó:qet to drink (it)
ts'ít to thank him/her
yéthest to tell (him/her)
th'éx̲wmet to feel sorry for him/her, pity someone
sí:simet to be scared of (him/her/it)
th'ex̲wíls to wash dishes
ts'its'lhá:met hearing it
lhq'él:exw to know (it)
skw'echóstel window
teqtá:l door
áx̲eth to lie down
q'ólthet return
ōkw' run out, finished
xwe'ít what is happening? What is someone doing?
á:lthel they
tesát to send someone (tr.)
qólem to scoop, to dip, to dip water
lex̲wethet to cover oneself up
sx̲éytel track, footprint
tílt to clear it (of land, road)
tl'ékw'el to go out (of a fire, flame)
álhtel to eat, eat
áxwet to give (it), share food with s-o, give s-o food, bring s-o food, pass food to s-o, give (tr.)
ts'ahéyelh be praying, having a church service
ewéta nothing

In 2002, shortly before she passed away, Yámalot, Rosaleen George, one of the last living speakers of Stó:lō Halq'eméylem visited a small recording studio in Chilliwack, where she recorded an oral version of a story about Sásq'ests (Sasquatch). This story then was illustrated and developed through staff at the Stó:lō Shxweli Halq'eméylem Language Program at Stó:lō Nation. It was turned into a multi-media CD rom, accessible through SRRMC (http://www.srrmcentre.com/sasqets). It might not play on your computer, but you can find the original recording, the illustrations and the story text in its original form here on the website.


Name Description File
Wordlist Select wordlist for easy printing Preview Download
Pattern handout some exercises around word patterns Preview Download
Literal translation Handout with literal translation Preview Download
Story with English Handout with English and Halq'eméylem Preview Download
Printable Vocabulary Flash Cards Printable flash cards for the vocabulary in this unit Preview Download
Vocabulary Anki deck Vocabulary anki deck Download

What is the meaning of?