OUR METIS/MICHIF LANGUAGE
Yeehaw... Shiikawn!
Spring!
It's getting chilly. It's snowing. It's cold
Tah-kaa-yaaw Mish-poun Sha-now
Tawnshi Namee, tawnshi kiya? Niya na boun, marsee or miigwich.
(hello) (friend) (how) * (you) (I) (am) (fine) (thank you.)
*note: there is no word for "are" in the Metis/Michif Turtle Mountain Chippewa/Cree Dictionary.
**note: you can also say "Zhi bean" for "I am fine," rather then pronouncing each individual word.
Koohkoum, kaykwawy pour soupee?
(Grandmother,) (whats) (for) (supper) ?
Shouvreu, pi bufloo rababoo avik mahta'min pi okanakosimaan!
(Deer,) (and) (buffalo) (stew) (with) (corn) (and) (squash)!
Are niyanawn ekota meena?
(Are) (we) (there) (yet)?
Buffalo Heart, where do you live?
(Bufloo) (Son keur), (Taandee wiikiyen)?
Yeehaw... Shiikawn!
Spring!
It's getting chilly. It's snowing. It's cold
Tah-kaa-yaaw Mish-poun Sha-now
Tawnshi Namee, tawnshi kiya? Niya na boun, marsee or miigwich.
(hello) (friend) (how) * (you) (I) (am) (fine) (thank you.)
*note: there is no word for "are" in the Metis/Michif Turtle Mountain Chippewa/Cree Dictionary.
**note: you can also say "Zhi bean" for "I am fine," rather then pronouncing each individual word.
Koohkoum, kaykwawy pour soupee?
(Grandmother,) (whats) (for) (supper) ?
Shouvreu, pi bufloo rababoo avik mahta'min pi okanakosimaan!
(Deer,) (and) (buffalo) (stew) (with) (corn) (and) (squash)!
Are niyanawn ekota meena?
(Are) (we) (there) (yet)?
Buffalo Heart, where do you live?
(Bufloo) (Son keur), (Taandee wiikiyen)?
Want to learn how to count in Michif?
I’ll show you how it’s written for all you purist, then I’ll try and spell it out how it sounds.
1= hen just like the chicken. (our you can say pay-ek)
2= deu like two except with a ‘d’ in front instead of a ‘t.’
3= trwaw (rhymes with bar except it starts with the ‘t’)
4= keat (sounds like ‘cat.’)
5= saenk (sounds like sank)
6= sis (as in sister)
7= set (like a ‘set’ of dishes)
8= wit (like nit-wit)
9= neaf (like neff)
10= jis (or gis, sort of like saying the jest of it without the ‘t’)
11= oonz (own with a ‘z’ like …he owns that)
12= dooz (dues)
13= trays (trays)
14= katorz (kat-tors, all one word)
15= kaenz (he walks with 2 ‘canes’)
16= saenz (says)
17= jis set (jis rhymes with sis & set)
18= jis wit jiswit
19= jis naef (jis neff)
20= vean (is like saying van but without the ‘n.’)
I’ll show you how it’s written for all you purist, then I’ll try and spell it out how it sounds.
1= hen just like the chicken. (our you can say pay-ek)
2= deu like two except with a ‘d’ in front instead of a ‘t.’
3= trwaw (rhymes with bar except it starts with the ‘t’)
4= keat (sounds like ‘cat.’)
5= saenk (sounds like sank)
6= sis (as in sister)
7= set (like a ‘set’ of dishes)
8= wit (like nit-wit)
9= neaf (like neff)
10= jis (or gis, sort of like saying the jest of it without the ‘t’)
11= oonz (own with a ‘z’ like …he owns that)
12= dooz (dues)
13= trays (trays)
14= katorz (kat-tors, all one word)
15= kaenz (he walks with 2 ‘canes’)
16= saenz (says)
17= jis set (jis rhymes with sis & set)
18= jis wit jiswit
19= jis naef (jis neff)
20= vean (is like saying van but without the ‘n.’)
HOW CHICAGO GOT ITS NAME.
It is said that once there was a husband and wife who went to the western end of Lake Michigan during the winter to trap Beaver. After making camp the man went to the lake and poked holes in the ice and then returned back to his Lodge to get his traps. As he was doing this his wife happened to see a Beaver and grabbed it by its tail and hung on tight calling for her Husband to come and kill the Beaver before it got away.
The Husband heard all the commotion and came running and when he saw what his wife had done he began yelling at her to let the Beaver go. If I kill this beaver it will scare all the others away, he said. The woman became angry and they had a big fight. They went back to the Lodge and as the Sun was setting the man went back to check his traps. When he returned his wife was gone. He thought she had gone to visit some friends or family. When he awoke the next morning she was had not returned so he went outside and followed her tracks.
As he followed them he noticed they began to change shape and gradually they had turned into the tracks of a skunk. The trackes ended at the edge of a large marshy area that smelled because it had many skunks living in it. He never saw his wife again and when he returned to his people he told them what happened and from then on this area was know as the place of the skunks. This is where the city of Chicago stands today.
The Husband heard all the commotion and came running and when he saw what his wife had done he began yelling at her to let the Beaver go. If I kill this beaver it will scare all the others away, he said. The woman became angry and they had a big fight. They went back to the Lodge and as the Sun was setting the man went back to check his traps. When he returned his wife was gone. He thought she had gone to visit some friends or family. When he awoke the next morning she was had not returned so he went outside and followed her tracks.
As he followed them he noticed they began to change shape and gradually they had turned into the tracks of a skunk. The trackes ended at the edge of a large marshy area that smelled because it had many skunks living in it. He never saw his wife again and when he returned to his people he told them what happened and from then on this area was know as the place of the skunks. This is where the city of Chicago stands today.
