THE OLD DENA'INA BELIEFS

Written and Read by Peter Kalifornsky

from: A Dena'ina Legacy, K'tl'egh'i Sukdu.
(excerpts from) pp. 12-17.
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.
SUK DENA'INA K'ECH' QULYUHCH' ŁU THE OLD DENA'INA BELIEFS
1. Yadi ch'ulat'a qeyntuzen ghu quht'ana, htelah ch'u huqeltsah qeyich' t'qełih. Whatever they wanted to be as they were growing to adulthood, they fasted and tried to become that.
2. Yadi ch'el'egi qatsits'etsexi, nahnaga dnadluni, yuq' ch'ehdnil'ani qeych' t'qeł'ih. They tried to have shamanic dreams, to speak words that would come true, to read the stars.
3. Ch'u huqeltsan. And they fasted (observed a ritual that affected themselves).
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