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.

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.