The Little People

Start Time Passamaquoddy-Maliseet English
00:13 Nehe, akonutomuwine. Okay, now tell us a story.
00:15 Kat-olu. Of course.
00:16 Wonakomehsisok. The little people.
00:18 Wot ehta woli-nonuwat. This fellow here knows them well.
00:20 Kuli-nonuwak wonakomehsisok? Do you know them well?
00:23 Nama. Tehpu eli-akonutomaki. No. Just from being told stories.
00:27 Nit-ona nil. Same with me.
00:28 Iya. Yeah.
00:31 'Tali-nomiyawa neket, kosona tan? They used to see them around long ago, or isn't that so?
00:35 Aha. Wonakomehsisok naka ihik... Yes. The little people and the...
00:39 Ma-te yut wen oliyew nipayiw. No one comes here at night.
00:42 Cuwi wen kinapiyiw. You have to be brave.
00:47 Iya, iya, ma wen yaliyew yut nipayiw. Yes, yes. No one goes around at night.
00:49 Solahkiw nikk kutomeyuwak wonakomehsuwok. You might bother those little people.
00:52 Kenuk, kenuk But, but
00:53 psi yaq keqsey woli-tpinomoniya. they watch everything closely.
00:56 Cipotuk. Maybe so.
00:57 Nit elakonutomaki, That's what I was told,
00:59 uli-tpinomoniya psi keqsey, that the
01:02 naka ktahcuwi-wolluhk. and you have to be on your best
01:05 Skat wolluhkewon on-oc iyey cu behavior. If you don't,
01:09 keq ktolelomokuk. Mecimiw nit yuhuki. then something will happen to you. That's what I was always told.
01:15 Well, anqoc-ona keqsey wen yaha Well, sometimes you were told things
01:17 weci wen woli-pilsqehsisuwit. just so you'd be a good girl.
01:19 Weci wen ciksotok; aha, nit kahk. So you'd listen; yes, that's so.
01:24 Weci wen ciksotok. So you'd listen.
01:29 Wonakomehsis, There's "wonakomehsis,"
01:30 naka kotokik evil spirits and what are those
01:32 keq nikk liwiyak? other evil spirits called?
01:33 On kal. I don't know.
01:34 Tamtamsisok? Dwarves?
01:35 Nama. No.
01:37 Mihkomuwehsuwok. It's "mihkomuwehsuwok."
01:39 Niktok, mihkomuwehsuwok, iya. Those are the ones, mihkomuwehsuwok.
01:41 Nomoliqaha pesq. I saw one of those darn little things.
01:42 Qin-ote? Really?
01:44 Naka nkisi-cikawkuwa And I disobeyed my mother,
01:46 nikuwoss on nomiyan, iya. and I saw him, yeah.
01:52 Yet mecimiw wikiyan When I lived over there on the shore,
01:56 i... eci wikuwaci-yaliyay, gee, I loved to go around,
01:57 nwikuwaci-nutaha. I loved to go out.
01:59 Eh, kis Kromp kisi-kuhumopeluwiw. Well, Kromp had already rung the curfew bell.
02:03 Cuwi psi-wen macehe. Everyone had to go
02:06 Ntiyahpon nmamam, ntiyahpon, I said to my mother, I told her,
02:08 "Ntahcuwi nil keq olluhk "I have to do something,
02:10 ntahcuwi-nacipha nuhkomoss yet I have to go get my grandmother
02:12 ihik 'sistalomok, ihik Rose Burnsok." at her sister's, at Rose Burns' house."
02:15 Ntahcuwi-nacipha. I had to go get her.
02:16 Solahkiw wen utomeyuwal. Someone might bother her.
02:18 Itom, "Madonna, mus kil nutahahkoc." My mother said, "Madonna, don't you go out.
02:21 Itom, "Cu knomiya wen nutahayin." If you go out, you'll see someone."
02:24 Ntiyahpon, "Well, mehehta I told her, "Well,
02:26 npuwatomuwon nuhkomoss I just don't want my grandmother
02:27 wenil nomiyan." to see anyone scary."
02:30 Nmacehtestikan nit-olu I started walking by
02:32 mecimiw wikitpon iya Snow, Bertha Snow. where Bertha Snow used to live.
02:36 Mecimiw nit corner, Bertha Snow She used to live at that corner,
02:39 nit wikit naka, iya, John Stanliw. with John Stanley.
02:44 Mecimiw nit little house, There used to be that little house,
02:46 cel 'tihiniya little fence. and they had a little fence.
02:48 Ma kwewitahatomuwon? Don't you remember?
02:50 Mecimiw Helen wikitpon? Where Helen used to live?
02:51 Nit-te Helen yut oloqiw wiku, Helen lived on this side,
02:53 nit-te John Stanley and then John Stanley
02:55 naka Bertha Snow. and Bertha Snow.
02:56 Cel kekesk... And a little bit...
02:57 Kekesk sehtahte. I... It was set back a little bit.
02:59 elomihtestiki nikonuk Gee, as I walked away from our house
03:01 -- ah, nwikuwaci-nutaha -- -- ah, I loved to go out --
03:03 elomihtestiki... ntolitahasin wen not? as I walked along... I thought, who's that?
03:07 Hey, nit-te weci-wesuwalokittiyeqasqi Hey, I ran like hell right back home
03:11 nemaht. Woli-te neqotoqq kuhutik. from there. I jumped right under the bed.
03:14 Itom nmamam, My mother said,
03:16 "Tan kil ktesalokittiyan?" "What the hell is the matter with you?"
03:18 "Nomiya wen, nomiya wen!" "I saw someone! I saw someone!"
03:21 Itom, "Well, ktiyuluhpon She said, "Well, I told you
03:22 mus nutahahkoc. not to go out.
03:23 Ma tahk iyey koti-ciksotuwiw, You didn't want to listen to me,
03:25 yali-konskostomon." you're so disobedient."
03:28 I'll tell you, kisessu! I'll tell you, that works!
03:31 Mecimiw ntakonutomakunehpon My grandmother used to tell me
03:32 nuhkomoss sqewtomuhs kosona iya pihtenskosit. about the spirit-woman or the tall man.
03:37 Meste kil knutomuwon pihtenskosit? Haven't you heard of the tall man?
03:39 Cu, cu Oh yes, oh yes.
03:41 Kosona iya nisekopisit. Or the two-sheeted ghost.
03:43 Nihtawi iyey, nihtawi-te... He knew how to... how to...
03:45 Milihtahasultuwok. They thought of all kinds of things to do.
03:46 Ksekpawoloq. They frightened you.
03:47 Iya? They did?
03:48 Nilun iya ktankolum iya Cacpicuns... Yet olu olomi-naci-kotunkahtuwok Your uncle Jike and I...
03:57 iya John naka Kenny naka John and Kenny and some other
04:02 wen-al apc kotok... man went off hunting...
04:04 ...ihik weci-pseskossok Gleason's Cove, where...
04:07 nit-olu eli ihik... Wollamson. There was a good breeze blowing.
04:11 Yuktok ducks etuciyahtihtit. The ducks were flying really fast.
04:13 U ya. Oh, yeah.
04:14 On nuhsuhkuwan. About November, And we followed them. It was around November;
04:17 kis kisi-kekesk kisi-psan, it had already snowed a little,
04:19 on nmacewsanen Cacpicuns and Jike and I started walking
04:21 ihik lellutawtik. along the railroad tracks.
04:22 Elomuhsiyek -- nit nkocicihtun mecimiw As we kept walking --
04:24 'toliwihtomoniya Indian Head I know they used to call that place Indian Head --
04:26 -- iyey nit-te li-pskiyawtosson. a path branches off there.
04:28 U ya, nita. Oh yeah, there.
04:30 Wot tahk wen weckuhuhset, There was somebody walking
04:32 on iya nilun Cacpicuns npomuhsanen, toward us and Jike and I walked
04:36 natkuwanen-ote. Ma tahk along, we went straight toward him.
04:38 nomiyawin wen 'siskuk. We couldn't see his face.
04:41 Ntotoli-litahasinen iya not iya Ceykin. We were thinking that it was Jake.
04:46 Cacpin 'tiyal, "Ceykin, Jike called to him,
04:50 ehqi-qeci-siktepawoline!" "Jake, stop trying to scare us!"
04:52 Wot tahk elomuhset, Whoever it was kept walking away,
04:54 nit etoli-psikiyawtossok nit elomi-ksewset. going in where the path splits.
04:58 Yet nuhsuhkuwanen, yut tahk... We followed him there, and...
05:01 ma tahk pomaptu! He didn't leave any tracks!
05:03 Naka wastewiw kekesk. And it was a little bit snowy.
05:06 Nit-te ntotoli-qolopessipon, We turned around right there,
05:09 ma-te nsamtehkuwawinnuk and we didn't set foot on the
05:11 yukk iyey lellutawtik pemi-qasqiyek. railroad tracks as we ran along.
05:15 Ma-te wen keq itomu. No one said anything.
05:17 Ipa, ktoqecimulan, Hey, you ask him,
05:18 nit-tehc-ona nekom ktiyukun. and he'll tell you the same thing.
05:21 Nit-ona neket iya Tanel kisakonutomuwit. That's what Donnell told me also.
05:24 Nekom-ona nit 'kisi-lessin. It happened to him, too.
05:25 Yut tahk skitapiyil iyey, He saw a man,
05:29 itom ansa ktaqhomuhs, I think, he said, like an old man, I think,
05:31 nit itokpon neket itom. when he told about it.
05:32 Naka mec-ote And he was
05:35 kehkimahpon. still in school.
05:36 Yaluhset He was walking along
05:38 lellutok, the railroad tracks,
05:39 itom, on nomiyan nihtol skitapiyil he said, when he saw that man
05:41 on 'totolewstuniya mahkiyew. and they spoke for a little while.
05:43 Itom, He said,
05:44 "Kisi-ihit, "The man told me,
05:45 'Cu-oc kil, iyey, 'You will be
05:47 ktiyalam.'" going fishing.'"
05:48 (Yalame.) (He does go fishing.)
05:49 Itom, "Nit-oc kil ktoluhkewakon." The man said, "That will be your work in life."
05:53 On 'qolopessin And he turned around
05:55 on 'tolomuhsan, Wehqapiqek, and went off, to Perry,
05:57 I guess, 'tolomuhsan, I guess, he went off,
05:59 on Tanel apolapit, and when Donnell looked back,
06:00 ma-te tama ihiw. he was nowhere to be seen.
06:02 Itom, nit-te etoli-ksihkassit. He said that he disappeared suddenly.
06:04 Itom, on 'kakawi-macahan. And, he said, he himself hurried home.
06:06 Itom, "Mecimi-te nit nwewitahatomon." He said, "I'll always remember that."


Capture Date 2010-12-13
Video Length 06:00
Places Discussed