BELUGA HUNTING

Written and Read by Peter Kalifornsky

from: A Dena'ina Legacy, K'tl'egh'i Sukdu. pp. 336-337.
edited by James Kari and Alan Boraas
Alaska Native Language Center: Fairbanks.


Hear Peter Kalifornsky read the story.
Click on a Dena'ina sentence for an explanation.
QUNSHI UQUCH'EL'ANI BELUGA HUNTING
1. Ts'iłq'a Kahtnu betnu qughuzdlent qunshi shegh qughilagh. One time at the mouth of the Kenai River where the current flows, a beluga swam up to me.
2. Ch'u beł k'danłtetl'. And I shot it.
3. Shegh qutuyghiłghel It floated up by me
4.      ch'u naqanełtan.       and I brought it back to shore.
5. Quht'ana shegh hnidatl' The people came to me
6.      ch'u quch'dghilu.       and we butchered it.
7. Betsen ghinhdi ch'eghnałggen We dried its meat
8.     ch'u bediłkidi ghinhdi ch'ełkuch.       and we rendered its blubber into oil.
9. Tlegh ghinhdi dinunch'eznel. We poured the oil into containers.
10. Dukaq' qughesht'a ch'qiluq. We fastened the lids well.
11. Heyi niłtu. It was for winter.
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