Lii Deu Faam Kaa-Wiikihtochik / The Two Women Wed

Lii Deu Faam Kaa-Wiikihtochik

Ooma l’istwer gii-wiihtamaak moñ noñk kaa-wiihtamaakot oohkoma. Aeñ n-istwer ooma oohkoma sa famii oschi kaa-wiihtamaakot moñ noñk apre achiyew daañ l’apital ee-ayaat.

Mafwee, ooma l-istwer ooma.

Kayaash iyave en faam Michif kaa-wiikit daañ la Rivyer Ruuzh. La faam awa mitooni kii-li-for-iwiw. Awa la faam toolmooñd kii-kishkeeyimikwak kaa-kikishkahk li bitaeñ di l-om, kaa-miyeeyihtahk oosham chi-oshitaat lii zafeyr di l-om. Lii z-ot faam kii-maatahamwak lii bofloo sii poo, maaka awa la faam kii-machiw li bofloo. Lii z-ot faam kii-oshitaawak li tooroo chi-atawakeehk, maaka awa la faam kii-meeshkotonam li tooroo avik lii z-ot mooñd.

Eekoshi kii-ishi-pimaatishiw la faam Michif awa. Tuulmooñd kii-kishkeeyihtam eekoshi ee-ishi-pimaatishit la faam. Maashkoot aashkaw aatiht lii mooñd kii-tashimoweewak. "Ana la faam aeñ n-om iteeyimishow," maashkoot kii-itweew. "Mitooni napeewakeeyihtam," kii-ah-itwew. Tahkinee iyave li mooñd kaa-miyeehtahkik chi-tashimeechik awiyak. Maaka awa la faam kii-miyeeyimikwak li mooñd. Mishtahi lii zafeyr kii-miyo-oshitamaweew la faam. Lii boñ zafeyr kii-oshitaaw por li mooñd eekota ita kaa-wiikit. Kii-shipweehteew chi-meeshkotonikeet eekwa miina lii boñ prii tahkinee ee-atawakeet. Eekoshi kii-nihtaa-oshitaw, la faam awa, kii-miyo-oshitaaw por li mooñd.

Eekwa miina namoo kii-onaapeemiw awa la faam. Pat l-om kii-ayaaweew. Eekoshi piko chi-oshitaat toolii zafeyr wiishta la faam kaa-oshitaachik lii zom. Daañ sa famii iyave yaeñk lii fii. Pat garsoñ iyave daañ sa famii. Eekwa awa la faam la pramyer fii daañ sa famii kii-nihtaawikiw. Eekoshi eekwa kii-kishkeeyihtam awa la faam chi-oshitaat lii zafeyr di l-om. Opaapaawa kii-kishinamaak chi-oshitaat lii zafeyr chi-wiichihaat sa famii. Nawach poko li-vyeu-iwiw eewakwaana opaapaawa. Aapishiish kii-aahkoshiyiwa opaapaawa. Eekoshi kii-kishinamaakeew sa fii chi-oshitaat lii zafeyr chi-wiichihaat sa famii, chi-kanaweeyimaat kiishpin ee-nipoyit ana opaapaawa. Eekwa apre kaa-ohpikit awa la fii namoo kii-wiikimeew, eekoshi kiiyapich lii zafeyr di l-om kii-ay-oshitaaw.

Eekoshi eekwa awa la faam toolii zafeyr kii-oshitaaw. Mitooni kii-itohteew waahyaw. Kii-papaam-atawakeew kiikwaya avik lii z-ot mooñd. Mishtahi lii poo’d bofloo ki-atawakew aya (ayish eekoshpi kii-mischeetinwa kiiyapich lii bofloo eekwa, lii Michif pi lii pramyer naasyooñ kii-nipahaachik lii bofloo chi-atawakeechik chi-pimaatishichik, en vree bon prii e-ishi-atawakeewak), eekoshi awa la faam kii-papaamohteew maana chi-meeshkotonikeet. Daañ l-est kii-itohteew daañ la Rivyer Ruuzh. Daañ l-west kii-itohteew daañ lii preyrii, nor pi sud kii-itohteew miina, tusael kii-ayaaw aashkaw la faam, kemaa avik lii pramyer naasyooñ maana kii-kah-kiyokeew eekwa kii-wah-wiikiw.

Keetahtawee kii-shipweehteew daañ la Rivyer Ruuzh oschi, kii-itohteew a l-west, daañ Saskatchewan kii-ayaaw la faam (chikeema maaka eekoshpi 'Saskatchewan' no kii-iteewak anima la teyr eekota, yaeñk lii pramyer naasyoñ pi lii Michif kaa-kii-wiikichik dañ lii preyrii eekota, eekoshpi no aeñ part di Canada ekwaanima.) Wah, eekota kii-kapeeshiw la faam daañ li preyrii, kii-ashtaaw soñ kaañ. Eekoshi eekwa keetahtawee kii-mataawishiw en faam Krii daañ lii bwaa oschi, eekoshpi kaa-oshitaat soñ kaañ la faam Michif. La-zhen-iwiw eewakwaana la faam Krii maaka peeyakow ana. Yaeñk la faam ana ayaaw avik sii shyaeñ, mishtahi li shyaeñ kii-ayaaweew ana la faam Krii, peeyakow ana avik sii shyaeñ.

Eekoshi eekwa kii-waapameew ana la faam Krii anihi la faam Michif, eekwa awa iteew "tânisi!" eekoshi iteew ana la faam Michif—kii-piikishkeew la laañg Krii, eekoshpi oosham kahkiyaw lii Michif kii-piikishkweewak la laañg di Krii miina. "awîna kiya?"

"kiwêtinohk ohci niya, kitowin nitisîyihkâson," kii-itik ana la faam Krii.

"âha, Alex LaRocque niya. êkwa tânitê ê-itôhtêyan cî?" kii-iteew la faam Michif.

"ê-wî-kîwêyân oma," itik la faam Krii, kitowin kaa-ishinihkashot, "kiwêtinohk."

"êha, e-itohteyân nîšta kiwêtinohk kici-mêskotonikêyân. ka-pê-kîwêhtahitin êkoši," kii-iteew la faam Michif. Eekoshi miyooshin kii-iteeyihtamwak lii deu faam aniki eekwa kii-maachi-kapeeshiwak aansaañb, ana la faam Krii avik la faam Michif.

Maaka kii-kishkeeyihtam la faam Michif, kaa-la-vaev-iwiyit eewakwaana la faam Krii. La-zhen-iwiw maaka peeyakow, eekwa miina li bitaeñ’d vaev kii-kikishkam. Eekoshi ayish aya, kii-iteeyihtam la faam Michif, eekoshi ayish ee-peeyakoyit eewakwaana la faam Krii. Eekoshi miina eekwa ee-kashkeeyihtaakoshit iteeyihtam la faam Michif, eekoyikohk kaa-la-zhen-iwiyit la faam Krii kaa-la-vaev-iwiyit.

Eekoshi kii-oshitaawak aniki lii deu faam, ansaañb kii-kapeeshiwak, kii-itohteewak zeusk sa pchit vil ana la faam Krii. Mitooni miyo-ayaaw la faam Krii, en vree bel faam ana. Miyo-wicheetowak lii deu faam. La faam Krii ana, la faam Michif kii-wiihtamaweew taanaehki kaa-pooni-pimatishiyit soñ marii daañ li smallpox oschi l-anii paasii. Kii-wiihtamaweew miina kaa-ohpikihichik ana la faam Krii lii shyaeñ chi-machichik, chi-tahkonahkik miina lii zafeyr di lii famii. Pi mitooni taapwee lii bon shyaeñ aniki, mitooni kii-miyeeyimeew la faam Michif anihi lii shyaeñ. (Eekwa eesha aeñ pchi shyaeñ kischi kii-miyeeyimeew, eekoshi apre kii-miyeew miyik la faam Krii anihi la faam Michif eewako li pchi shyaeñ, apre kaa-shipweehteewak, maaka eekoshpi anima no cheeshkwa ki-takoshininaan daañ l-istwer!)

Mafwee keekaat deu li mwaa kii-pimipahtaawak, kii-kapeeshiwak aansaañb, zeusk kaa-takoshinwak daeñ la faam Krii sa pchit vil. Tultaañ kii-aachimowak lii ziswter chi-paahpihk lii faam, kii-miyo-wicheetowak mitooni. Zhamaeñ kii-ayaaweew en pleu boñ nami la faam Michif, eekoyikohk kaa-miyeeyimaat ana la faam soñ namii Krii. Eekoshi keetahtawee kaa-tipishkaak alaañtur daañ li feu kii-apiwak, eekoshpi kaa-itweet ana la faam Krii kiikwee. Eewako kaa-itweet, oh, kii-paahpihtaw ana la faam Michif. Eekoshi kii-iteew la faam Cri alaañtur daañ li feu, "wâpahki ê-wî-takôsiniyahk nîkinahk, êkospi êkwa ka-wîkihtahêyahk."

Hahahaha eekoshi ishpi kaa-itweet la faam Krii, la faam Michif soñ kaafii kii-shiikweepinam mishiwee daañ la teyr, ohoh. Oshkach namoo kashkihtaaw ahpo chi-piikishkweet, eekoyikohk kaa-koshkweeyimaat. Kii-maachi-paahpiw maaka kii-kakwee-poni-paahpiw sheemak eekaa nishtotamiyiwa ayish soñ namii eekoshi kaa-ishi-itweet. Eekoshi kii-pooni-paahpiw aapishiish pi kii-iteew soñ namii-wa, "môy ki-ka-kâškihtênân ê-wîkihtahêyahk, iškwêwak ayišk êka kâškihtahkik."

Abaeñ eekoshi kii-mihkokweepayiw ana la faam Krii, soñ vizhaezh mitooni ruuzh kii-ati-ishpayiw. "môy, môy tâpwê piko," kii-itweew oshkach, maaka kii-ati-paahpiw wiishta. "tâpwê misakâme kitiskwêwiwin cî? môy ôma êka nohtê-wîkimiyan cî?" kii-itweew maaka aeñ n-ot n-istweer chi-paahpihk anima, eekoshi kaa-aachimochik aniki lii faam.

"kîšpin napêw niya mâka..." kii-paahpi-itweet miina la faam Michif. "êkoši ê-ayâyân niya, iškwêw."

Eekoshi keekaat kii-wiikihtowak deu lii faam, la faam Michif kaa-l-om-inaakoshit avik soñ namii la faam Cri. Mishtahi kii-paahpiwak keekaat kaa-kii-wiikihtaheechik. La zhurnee ki vyen kii-itohteewak daañ la faam Krii sa pchit vil, eewakwaana la faam kii-kiiweew eekwa soñ namii la faam Michif kii-pee-itohteew avik wiya. Kii-nakishkaweew la faam Michif soñ namii omaamaawa opaapaawa. Marsii kii-itweewak chi-kiiweetohtahaat sa fii. Kischi-iteeyihtahkik ayish ataawew aatiht kiikwaya kaa-atawaket la faam Michif, mishtahi kii-meeshkotonikeeyiwa la faam Krii sii paraañ avik soñ namii la faam Michif. Mitoni miyooshin kahkiyaw.

Piiyish kii-pooyoow kahkiyaw lii zafeyr ifoolee chi-oshitaat la faam Michif. Eekoshi eekwa "ka-wâpamitinawaw" kii-itweew la faam Michif. "ka-wâpamitin" miina piko chi-itaat sa pleu bon namii. No kii-daweeyihtamwak chi-shipweehteet la faam Michif maaka piko chi-itohteet chi-meeshkotonikeet. Eekoshi eekwa chipwaa kaa-shipweehteet la faam, soñ namii la faam Krii kii-miyeew kiikwee, ana li pchi shyaeñ kaa-miyeeyimaat la faam Michif, kii-miyeew. Abaeñ mitooni kii-chiihkeeyimeew la faam Michif. Eekoshi kii-miyo-shipweehteew la faam, soñ namii soñ pleu bon namii oschi.

Wahwa aya ana li pchi shyaeñ ana, kii-wiheew ana la faam, "Lalwey" kii-wiheew, eekoshi kii-wiiheew soñ namii kitowin kii-kishkishitotawaat.

Eekoshi anima l-istwer anima, eekoshi gii-wiihtamaak moñ noñk kaa-wiihtamaakot oohkoma apre kaa-ayaat daañ l’apital. Eekoshi oohkoma miina ee-kii-wiihtamaakooyit, oohkoma oohkomiyiwa kii-wiihtamawiyit. Aniki lii deu faam, la faam Michif pi soñ namii la faam Krii, eekwaaniki kaa-ohpikihichik moñ noñk ochaapana, eekwa eekoshi kii-itikwak lii deu faam taanaehki oschi kaa-kii-ishi-nakishkaahtochik. Kiihtwaam kii-nakishkaahtowak apre sa, apre kaa-kii-nootinikeechik a Batoche, eekoshpi apre taapwee sikom lii marii kii-ishi-pimaatishichik. Eekoshiishi aañsaañb kii-ohpikiheewak moñ noñk ochaapana.

Moñ noñk, apre kaa-kii-notinikaashot ayish en rob ee-kikishkahk, eekoshi kii-itik moñ noñk oohkoma meekwaach ee-ayaat daañ ḻ’apital. Eekoshi ki-maachi-aachimoshtaatin, eekoshi pitamaa.

The Two Women Wed

This is a story that my uncle told me, and which his grandmother told him. This is the story that his grandmother told him about her family after my uncle got beat up and was in the hospital for a while.

Well, here's the story.

A long time ago there was a Michif woman who lived in the Red River settlement. This woman was very strong. Everyone knew her and the fact that she wore men's clothing, because she liked to do the work that men did. Other women would tan buffalo hides, but this woman would hunt the buffalo. Other women would make pemmican to sell, but this woman would go sell that pemmican with other people.

So this is how this Michif woman was. Everyone knew that's how she was. Maybe sometimes some people would gossip. "That woman thinks she's a man," they'd say, maybe. "She really thinks like a man," they would say. Eh, there are always people who like to gossip. But this woman was really well-liked by other people. She did a lot of good things, this woman, she did good things for the people where she lived. She went and traded and always got a good price. So that's what she was good at, this woman, she did good things for people.

Oh and this woman wasn't married, she didn't have a husband. That's why she had to do the things that men did. In her family there were only girls, no boys at all in her family, and she was the first daughter born in her family. So that's why she knew how to do those men's things. Her father taught her to do those things to help her family. He was pretty old, her father, and he was a little sick, so he taught his daughter to do things to help her family and take care of them if he should die. And even after she grew up she didn't get married, so she still kept doing those things like men.

So this woman really did all kinds of things. She went really far away. She went to sell things to people all over the place. She sold a lot of buffalo hides (because at that time there were still a lot of buffalo, the Métis and the Indians would kill the buffalo to sell and to live, at that time you could sell the hides for a very good price), so this woman traveled all over to trade them. She went east to Red River, west to the prairies, north and south she went too—she was often all alone, but sometimes she visited the Indians and lived with them.

One time she left Red River and went west, to Saskatchewan (of course at that time they didn't call that area "Saskatchewan," only Indians and Métis lived on the prairies there, it wasn't part of Canada then). Well there she camped on the prairie, she made her camp there. And all of a sudden a Cree woman appeared out of the trees while the Michif woman was making her camp. There was just that one woman with her dogs, she had a lot of dogs that Cree woman, but she was traveling all alone with her dogs.

And then the Michif woman saw that Cree woman and said to her in Cree, "Hello!" That's what that Michif woman said to her—she spoke Cree, because back then all the Métis spoke Cree too. "Who're you?"

"I'm from the north, my name is kitowin," the Cree woman told her.

"Okay, I'm Alex LaRoque. Where ya going then?" the Michif woman said to her.

"I'm actually going home," the Cree woman named kitowin told her, "to the north."

"Okay, well I'm going north too, to trade. I'll take ya home then," the Michif woman told her. Both those women thought it was a good idea so they started camping together, the Cree woman and the Michif woman.

But the Michif woman noticed, that Cree woman was a widow. She was young but she was all by herself and she was wearing the clothes that widows wear. That must be why she's traveling by herself, the Michif woman thought. And she thought it seemed very sad, that the Cree woman was a widow so young.

So that's what those two women did, they camped together and went towards the Cree woman's village. The Cree woman was a really good person, she was a really good-natured woman. The two women got along really well. That Cree woman told the Michif woman how her husband had passed away from smallpox last year. She also explained that they raised dogs for hunting and carrying families' belongings. And they were really good dogs too, the Michif woman really liked those dogs. (And I guess she really liked one in particular, which the Cree woman gave her, after they left—but we're not at that part of the story yet!)

Well, almost two months they travelled and camped together, until they arrived at the Cree woman's village. The whole time they were joking with each other, they really got along well. The Michif woman had never had a better friend, that was how much she liked her friend that Cree woman. So then one night they were sitting around the fire when the Cree woman said this thing. Oh, this thing she said made the Michif woman laugh so hard. So the Cree woman said by the fire, "Tomorrow we'll reach my home and then we can be married properly."

Ahahaha, when the Cree woman said that, the Michif woman spilled her coffee all over the ground, hoho. At first she couldn't even speak she was so surprised. She started to laugh, but she tried to stop herself quickly because her friend who'd said that didn't understand why she was laughing. So she stopped laughing enough to say to her friend, "We can't get married because women can't marry each other."

Well, then that Cree woman just blushed, oh her face really started turning red. "No, it can't be true," she said at first, but she was starting to laugh too. "You've really been a woman this whole time? It's not just that you don't want to marry me?" she said, but it was another joke like they liked to tell.

"Ah, if only I was a man, but nope, I'm a woman," the Michif woman laughed.

So that was how two women almost got married, the Michif woman who looked a lot like a man and her Cree friend. They laughed quite a bit over how they almost got married. The next day they went to the Cree woman's village, that woman returned to her family and her Michif friend came with her. The Michif woman met her friend's mother and father. They thanked her for bringing back their daughter. They were so grateful that they bought some of the things the Michif woman was selling, the Cree woman's parents really traded a lot with her Michif friend. Everything was very good.

Finally the Michif woman had finished everything she needed to do. So she said "See you again," to her friend's parents, and she also had to say good-bye to her best friend. They didn't want the Michif woman to leave, but she had to go trade some more. So before the Michif woman left, the Cree woman gave her something—she gave her that puppy she liked. Well, the Michif woman was just so happy. So she left her friend, her best friend, feeling good.

And well hey, that woman named that little puppy, she named her "Lalwey," so that she'd be reminded of her friend kitowin.

So that is the story, that's the one my uncle told me who was told by his grandmother after he was in the hospital. His grandmother was told the story too, his grandmother's grandmother told her it. Those two women, the Michif woman and the Cree woman, they were the ones who raised his great-great-grandmother, and that's what they told her about how they met.

They met again later, after the fighting at Batoche, and then they really did become like a married couple. They raised my uncle’s great-great-grandmother together like that. My uncle, after he got beat up for wearing a dress, that’s the story his grandmother told him in the hospital. So that's the beginning of the story I'm telling you, that's it for now.