What is this?

Ju ts'an kay-in-nee Dan k'e?

Which way is this called - the People's way?

Greetings

Da an a-ch'a?

or

Da an a-ch'ea?

How are all of you?

Da an ch'a?

or

Da an ch'ea?

How are you?

copper ore

"tasan zhat"

native copper

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.