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T̉aat̉aaqsapa Textual Database

This database of T̉aat̉aaqsapa texts is based on the fieldwork of Edward Sapir between 1910 and 1914, as well as the subsequent textual material sent to Sapir by Alex Thomas and Frank Williams between 1914 and 1922. The texts are arranged according to the plan set out by Sapir and his student, Morris Swadesh, who worked extensively on the material. Texts are categorized under a number of different subheadings.

Some of the texts have been previously published, e.g. Sapir & Swadesh (1939) and Sapir & Swadesh (1955), but these two volumes are both long out of print and not readily available. The format of the first of these is highly usable, but the second volume is less so, given that it does not align the Nuuchahnulth with the English translation.

In addition, there have been more recent publications of the other texts from this collection, although the format of these makes it difficult to use them for linguistic purposes. The material presented here has been substantially revised to provide interlinear analysis of all the materials. In addition, there are numerous corrections to both the texts and their translations.

In the following index to the texts, the first column provides the number assigned to the texts by Sapir and Swadesh in their original plan. The second column provides an English title for the text, and the third column provides the name of the narrator of the text, as provided by Sapir. The fourth column indicates the source of the text: texts indicated by a Roman numeral followed by a colon and page range come from Sapir's original field notebooks (numbered I to XXIV); texts marked by a number followed by a letter indicate the indexing system associated with the texts subsequently sent to Sapir at the museum in Ottawa by Alex Thomas between 1914 and 1922. Thus, text 001, ‘What Mosquitoes are made of’ was provided by Mr. Hamilton George and is recorded in Sapir's notebook I on pages 115-129. Text 007, ‘Kwatyat went out for a walk’, was sent to Sapir by Frank Williams and is recorded as Text 70a in the museum's catalogue.


Notice

The texts that I am making available below are still subject to revision. I am making them available because I feel that they may be able to contribute to language education programs that are currently underway.
There is still a lot of work to be done in the analysis and translation of many of the texts but since I don't think I will be able to get everything done soon, I am making as much of my work as possible available now.
Please let me know of any typos or other errors that you find so that I may improve the value of the materials.

Index of Texts

No. Text Name Narrator Source PDF

I. Myths
001. What Mosquitoes are made of Hamilton George I: 115-129 X
002. Deer and the Wolves Frank Williams I: 209-221 X
003. Raven and Skate Frank Williams I: 227-233 X
004. Kwatyat and Wolf Frank Williams I: 235-249 X
005. Kwatyat’s Mother Moved Frank Williams II: 161-171 X
006. Kwatyat and the Sunbeam Girls Big Fred VII: 31-32 X
007. Kwatyat Went out for a Walk Frank Williams 70a X
008. Raven and his wife Frank Williams X: 48-51 X
009. Raven and Snipe Frank Williams 53 X
010. The Transformer Big Fred VII: 32-41 X
011. Woodpecker and the Thunderbirds Frank Williams VI: 3-9 X
012. The Dog Children Big Fred VII: 11-31 X
013. The Man who brought his wife back from the dead Big Fred VII: 42-49 X
014. The Jealous Woman Big Fred VII: 50, VIII: 1-5 X
015. Crow Girl William VII: 51 X
016. The Girl who married the Ya'i and the Sky-Man Big Fred VIII: 5-13 X
017. The Youths who followed a bird Big Fred VIII: 14-20 X
018. The Boys who Revenged their Sister Big Fred VIII: 24-34 X
019. The Marriage of Mink Tom Sayachapis 50e X
020. A Fight between Lice and Wolves Tom Sayachapis 50f X
021. The Stealing of Children by Pitch Woman and their Rescue Douglas Thomas
 50h X
022. Origin of the Wolf Ritual Dance of the Yellow Cedar Bark Ogre Peter Kishkish 70 X

II. ETHNOLOGICAL NARRATIVES
023. The Tsayik, a Doctoring Ritual Hamilton George I: 173-185 X
024. A Secret Ritual for Trolling Frank Williams VI: 43-45 X
025. A Secret Ritual for Spearing Fish Frank Williams VI: 46-49, VII:1-2 X
026. A Secret Ritual for Sea-Lion Hunting Frank Williams VII: 3-5 X
027. Taboos for Sea-Mammal Hunting Frank Williams VII: 5-9 X
028. Trolling for Spring Salmon Captain Bill XVIII: 30 X
029. Fishing for Cod with baited Kelp-line and Sinker Captain Bill XVIII: 31 X
030. A Secret Ritual for Soma Bait Captain Bill XVIII: 32 X
031. How a Father of Twins caused a Big Salmon Run William XXI: 22-31 X
032. A Girl Obtains Power from the Fish William XXI: 31-43 X
033. Hisawistath and Hitatsoath Wolf Ritual Rights are Handed Over to Tom’s Father Tom Sayachapis XXIII: 2-7 X
034. Tom gets Wealth from Three Supernatural Beings Tom Sayachapis XIV: 49-50, XIV: 37, XV: 1 X
035. Tom has Two Uncanny Experiences Tom Sayachapis XV: 2-4 X
036. Tom Washes Away His Nephew’s Low Birth Tom Sayachapis XV: 5-7 X
037. Tom Gives His First Wolf Ritual Tom Sayachapis XV: 7-8 X
038. Tom Marries Tom Sayachapis XV: 8-14 X
039. Tom Gives Various Potlatches Tom Sayachapis XV: 14-24, XVI: 1-24, XVII: 26-41, XXII: 25-50, XXIII: 1 X
040. Captain Bill’s Marriage Captain Bill XVIII: 23-25 X
041. Frank Williams’ Wolf Ritual Experience Frank Williams VI: 25-34 X
042. A Fight for a Drift Whale Captain Bill XVIII: 16-17 X
043. Revenge on the Sea-Lions and Sea Otters William X: 16-20 X
044. Tom Gives Advice to his Grandson Tom Sayachapis 50v: 167-211 X

III. The Primary Structural Elements of Nootka



Sapir’s grammatical notes on Nuuchahnulth Edward Sapir

IV. Outlines
045. The Yearly Round Tom Sayachapis 50cc X
046. Beliefs Tom Sayachapis 50ee: 35-56 X

V. The Wolf Ritual
047. Tom’s Big Wolf Ritual Tom Sayachapis 50r X
048. Huupachas first shown the Wolf Ritual Tyee Bob XIX: 5-8 X
049. Dance Teams Tom Sayachapis 50ee: 23-35 X

VI. Marriage
050. Tyee Jack’s Marriage Kwishanishim 50n: 47-50 X
051. Alex Thomas’ Marriage Tom Sayachapis 50s X
052. An Unsuccessful Marriage Party Tom Sayachapis 50v: 142-54 X
053. Notes on a Marriage Payment Visit Alex Thomas 50bb X
054. Far-Above Dreams Marriage Songs Tom Sayachapis XII: 40-43 X

VII. Feasts and Speeches
055. Puberty Potlatch for Dick Thlaamahuus’ Daughter Dick Thlaamahuus 50dd: 1-58 X
056. Puberty Potlatch for William Tutuutsh’s Daughter Tom Sayachapis 50z: 1-34 X
057. Gift Visit to the Ditidaht Dick Thlaamahuus 50dd: 106-22 X
058. Gift Visit to the Ucluelets Tom Sayachapis 50z: 35-45 X
059. A Potlatch Speech at Huu-ay-aht Tom Sayachapis 50z: 45-52 X
060. Mourning Potlatch for Harry Thomas' Daughter Tom Sayachapis 50ee: 1-7 X
061. Mourning Potlatch for Four Children Tom Sayachapis 50ee: 7-22 X
062. Queesto’s Big Potlatch Tom Sayachapis 50v: 128-34 X
063. Becomes-Ten Gives a Potlatch Tom Sayachapis 50v: 134-42 X
064. A Toquaht Chief visits Makes-Oily of Tsishaath Tom Sayachapis XIV: 20-23 X
065. High-Above’s Potlatch Games Tom Sayachapis XII: 4-7, 38-39, 43-47 X
066. Speech of Thanks Tom Sayachapis 50a X
067a. Speech for Ceremonial Aid (First Version) Klutasee 50g X
067b. Speech for Ceremonial Aid (Second Version) Klutasee 50aa X
068. A Contest between Orators Tom Sayachapis 50d X
069. Invitation and Welcome Alex Thomas 50o X
070. Speeches in New Haven Alex Thomas ?? X

VIII.Warfare
071. The Uchucklesahts exterminate the Kiihin Tom Sayachapis XIII: 15-28 X
072. War Among Ahousaht Bands Tom Sayachapis 50x: 51-68 X
073. The Tsishaa Defeat the Ahousaht Tom Sayachapis 50x: 33-42 X
074. Ucluelets capture Namint from the Namint People Kwishanishim 50n: 21-47 X
075. Ucluelets Seize Effingham Inlet Kwishanishim 50m X
076. Ucluelets Fight Uchucklesahts Kwishanishim 50n: 1-15 X
077. The Long War in Barkley Sound Kwishanishim 50l X
078. Some Ucluelet Youths Go Raiding Kwishanishim 50n: 15-21 X
079. Aahuus Try to Trample Tsishaa Tom Sayachapis 50x: 69-100 X






080-84. [No text assigned]


IX. Legendary Hunters
085. Whaling adventures of Siihnach Tom Sayachapis 50b X
086. Capture of a Whale During Famine Tom Sayachapis 50c X
087. Naweik as a Whaler Tom Sayachapis 50v: 251-289 X
088. Ahead-on-Sea as a Whaler Kwishanishim 50p X
089. The whaling of Bangs-along and his son Tom Sayachapis 50z: 52-97 X
090. Broken-Jaw as a Whaler Tom Sayachapis 50x: 1-36 X
091. Purple-body as a Whaler Tom Sayachapis 50v: 75-91 X
092. A Commoner becomes a Whaler; Barnacles-on-Face Tom Sayachapis 50v: 63-65 X
093. Dog-dancer as a Whaler Kwishanishim 50y X
094. High-on-the-Beach as a Whaler Tom Sayachapis XII: 47-50 X
095. Chief Sharp-body of Kinahum Tom Sayachapis XIII: 3-13 X
096. Blowing-Sound Big Fred VIII: 21-24 X
097. [No text assigned]


098. Dorsalfin-Hunter gets Whaling Power from the sharks Captain Bill XVIII: 8-15 X
099. How the Young Chief of Coleman Creek became a Whaler William VIII: 36-50; IX: 1-29 X
100. The Rival Whalers Tom Sayachapis XIV: 23-28 X
101. Sinker’s Daughter helps her Whaler Husband Tom Sayachapis 50v: 103-113 X
102. The Whale's Sweetheart Tom Sayachapis 50v: 24-42 X
103. Kwistux Gets Two Drift Whales Tom Sayachapis 50v: 113-128 X
104. A Contest in Drift-whale Power Tom Sayachapis 50w: 1-26 X
105. A Tsumaqnitath who was robbed of his whale by the Chuchaa'ath Tom Sayachapis 50v: 20-24 X
106. A Lesson for a Stingy Man Tom Sayachapis 50v: 1-20 X
107. The River of the Tsakwistis Tom Sayachapis XIII: 13-14 X
108. Whaling Songs of the Ucluelet Arm People Tom Sayachapis XIII: 14-15 X
109. Hihluqwap and his Salmon Tom Sayachapis 50x: 42-51 X
110. Hair-seal Hunter and Porpoise Hunter Frank Williams VI: 11-24 X
111. Lifts-up and Rotten-head-hunter, the rivals William X: 20-46 X
112. The first use of crabs as food Tom Sayachapis XIII: 33-40 X
113. The Young Man Who Was Left Behind By Halibut Fishermen Tom Sayachapis 50v: 42-63 X

X. Tales of Extraordinary Experience
114a. Shaman Doctor Stories Tom Sayachapis 50dd: 76-91 X
114b. A Ghost Story Tom Sayachapis 50dd: 91-106 X
115. How a Man misused Power given by the Beavers Tom Sayachapis XIV: 34-36, 38-41 X
116. Tom encounters a Storm Tom Sayachapis 50v: 154-167 X
117. Story of Kanup Who Became a Shaman Tom Sayachapis 50v: 91-103 X
118. Sword-Dancer becomes a Shaman Tom Sayachapis 50v: 240-251 X
119. The Youth who Followed a Cormorant Tom Sayachapis XIV: 28-34 X
120. A Runaway Slave comes to the Chief of Wanin Tom Sayachapis XIV: 41-49 X
121. Adventures of Mussel-Getter Tom Sayachapis 50v: 211-240 X
122. Makes-Oily sees the Thunderbird and gets Power from a Sea-egg William XXI: 1-13 X
123. How the Ditidaht obtained the Thunderbird and the Lightning Snake as Privileges Captain Bill XVIII: 18-23 X
124. A Hikuhl sees the Thunderbird and the Aurora-women William XXI: 13-22 X
125. A Young Man of the Muhuhl visits Thunderbird Tyee Bob XIX: 8-28 X
125a. Prayer Alex Thomas XIX: 10a X

XI. Family Origin Legends
126. The Chinii Tyee Bob XXII: 7-24, XXIV: 25-45, XXIII: 8-28 X
127. Legendary History of the Tsishaath Tom Sayachapis, assisted by Hamilton George II: 3-159 X
128. A Hupachas Account of Culture Origins Tyee Bob XIX: 29-50, XX: 1-49 X
129. The origin of the Tsishaath and the Story of Makes-Oily and Sound-of-Spouting William IX: 44-50, X: 2-16 X
130. Origin of the Huʔuɬ Band Kwishanishim 50q X
131. The Shaman Kaniwin and the Origin of the Nachimwas Tom Sayachapis XIII: 40-50, XIV: 1-20 X
132. How the Ecoole explored the Alberni Canal William IX: 29-44 X
133. An Origin Legend of the Nawuuwa'ath Tom Sayachapis XIII: 28-33 X
134. Origin of the Hisawist̉a Tom Sayachapis XII: 1-4 X
135. Far-Above and Wealth-on-the-Rocks Tom Sayachapis XII: 39 X
136. High-Above and Big-Rear Tom Sayachapis XII: 7-38 X
137. The Name Abalone-Hunter Tom Sayachapis 50x: 31-33 X
138. How a potlatch mask was obtained Harry VI: 35-36 X
139. Explanation of a head-mask of Klutasee Klutasee VI: 37-38 X
140. Huu-ay-aht Subdivisions Dick Thlaamahuus 50dd X
141. Huu-ay-aht Houses Dick Thlaamahuus 50dd: 66-76 X
142. A Young Man who Married and got Mad Peter Kishkish 70 ? X
143. Two Swan-women make place names Tyee Bob XX: 50, XXII: 1-7 X

XII. Origin of the Wolf Ritual
144. Origin of the Wolf Ritual Tom Sayachapis II: 175-289, III: 129-159 X
145. Cheʔis version of the Wolf Ritual Origin Klutasee VI: 38-42 X
146. Some of High-Above's privileges in potlatches and winter feasts Tom Sayachapis XII: 43-47 X
147. A Ucluelet princess marries a wolf Tom Sayachapis 50t X




©2006 John Stonham