colours

"Dat'al, datthaw, jenntl'ur,

ya-aa

jenachu'ur ni-ii."

(southern tutchone)

Red, yellow, green and black - I've seen it.

nakhel

Yesterday, I saw glowing amethyst

among the autumn colours

in my back yard.

This solitary lupin nestled close

to the firewood drying for the winter.

In Southern Tutchone dialects cottonwood is called:

laju; lajyu; or dan t'u.

Flowers are nakhel.

Dad

Dad preferred to keep his hair in a neat brush-cut.

Often though, as the years crept up on him, 

he'd  let his silvery brush-cut grow long and his hair would stand  straight out from his head.

When his hair was like that
I'd tell him he looked like
a dandelion 

gone to seed.
He'd
laugh and agree...

Dad passed on in June of 2008

but every time I see 

a dandelion gone to seed

I think of Dad, 

of laughing with him,

 and 

of his silvery brush-cut.

cranberry bog

Ruby, silver, and emerald...

... colours of a Yukon cranberry bog.

beautiful doll

A beautiful doll ...

In Southern Tutchone a doll is:

"gugara";

a young girl is:

"a yejala";

old timers are:

"kwaday dan"...

the old timers referred to Christmas as a gifts day:

"k'ats'adale Zanu".

This beautiful doll was created by 

Southern Tutchone artist 

Sandra DeWeert 

and is a special treasure in my

personal collection.

Miles Canyon~morning and evening

Miles Canyon 
shrouded in fog

at 8:30 a.m

August 21, 2010...

...same vantage point but
with sunshine

at 6:00 p.m.
August 24, 2010

I've heard Southern Tutchone old timers 

refer to this place by two different names:

Chu-lin and Kwan-lin.

berries = jam

 As a child I lived in the Southern Tutchone regions of the Yukon harvesting the land for subsistence foods with my parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family.

Living a primarily traditional lifestyle meant store bought berries and fruits were a very rare treat.
So every now and again, I indulge.

In Southern Tutchone strawberries are called:

"kwansi zhur"

...blueberries are called:

"nandhay".

I like blueberries:

"Nandhay yanili."

As I worked on a batch of jam this weekend, 
using store bought berries,

I  thought of Gramma and how she would have marvelled 

at the crates of

berries and fruits, inexpensive produce, pressure cookers, 

and the

flats of jars and rings now available to us in the stores of  Whitehorse. 

Gramma and I made jams and jellies with the wild berries we picked and processed with a hot water bath and sealing wax using the old style, zealously hoarded, glass mason jars with the glass lids. We also used recycled jars with a simple
wax seal.

wicked wolf

hmmm...

August autumn

"Nuchu kwadele; kwajadak'aw." (s.t.)

It's becoming fall; it's getting cold.

Mist rising off Schwatka Lake this morning.

Schwatka Lake is a reservoir that was created when a section of the Yukon River just south of old Whitehorse proper was dammed in 1958.  The resulting lake was named for  U.S. Army Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka who is attributed with being the first non-aboriginal to explore the total length of the Yukon River.

"K'uh kwanli" (s.t.)

It's cloudy.

Grey Mountain is in the background, the original Southern Tutchone name for Grey Mountain is "The Ma".

aster

Named for the Greek word for
star ~ astron;
said to be the symbol of
love,
daintiness,
and
afterthought. 

chinook migration

In mid to late August each year the chinook pass through Kwanlin (Whitehorse) on the return to their natal streams.

Here, the chinook have to bypass the Whitehorse Rapids Hydro Electric Dam.  This part of the migration takes the salmon through the longest wooden fish-ladder in the world. 
Built in 1959, this fish-ladder is only one section of the long journey the chinook make between the Bering Sea to any one of the many tributaries of the Yukon River in order to spawn.

The chinook travelling the Yukon River have the longest freshwater migration route of any salmon.
In 2009 a public art installation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the building of the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway celebrated the chinook; these
submissions are from Yukon schoolchildren...

 ...from the general public...

...from me.

Close up.

artist

Tlingit/Southern Tutchone Artist

Norman Adamson...

sitting in quiet contemplation

carving

killer

whale

cedar

box

photo: j.w. hays

photo: j.w. hays

killer whale pendant

carved from

fossilized

ivory

&

inlaid with abalone

photo: j.w. hays

photo: j.w. hays

...cedar box and pendant created by  Norman Adamson

chinook for breakfast

...one male, one female

preparing the morning's catch

eggs for breakfast

hornets must be provided a share

hornets will take the offerings

to the bone in a day

everyone works at the camp

...including visitors

everyone takes a share of the catch

...including visitors

Naw- she

Chinook salmon on the fish rack:

some are left whole to bake - to barbecue - for steaks or fillets; others are cut for drying;

bellies are set aside for chowders or a base for broth;

alder smoke adds flavour.

In Southern Tutchone a fish rack is

lu dakat;

dried fish is lu gun;

smoke is lats'i.

Naw-she is one of the Southern Tutchone names for the family fish camp.

Naw-she describes the campsite location at the confluence of the Yukon and Takhini Rivers.

A boom set.

Leonard DeWeert

demonstrates another fishing method...

Scamp ...

...designated salmon watcher.

Scamp is tli-ah dusella shu-tii-jai

~

a cute small dog.

harvesting Chinook

Colin Adamson takes two male chinook from the

Yukon River at the family campsite.

photo credit: p.d. adamson

In Southern Tutchone the chinook is called

Gyu;

a campsite is called

ku k'anji;

the Yukon River is called

Chu Qwan.

Gyu laki.

(two chinook)

birds eye view

Sentinel

This very young bald eagle was keeping watch over

Marsh Lake in the Yukon

- July 25, 2010 -

The birth down is still evident on the eagle's breast.

summer swimming

...a small beaver enjoying the summer in a slough

off

Marsh Lake.

Beaver is sa in Southern Tutchone;

a small beaver is sa ra;

summer is shakat;

slough is shetin'a.

Yukon sky sculptures...

"rows and floes of angel hair

and ice cream castles in the air

and feather canyons ev'rywhere

i've looked at clouds that way"

"i've looked at clouds from both sides now

from up and down, and still somehow

it's cloud illusions i recall

i really don't know clouds at all"

excerpts from "Both Sides Now"

composed by Joni Mitchell

...in Southern Tutchone cloud is

"k'uk"

...rain clouds are "sha k'uk" or "sha achal".