Xkweyok Enta Naxkuhëmënt Enta Këntkahtit

Origin of the Delaware Woman Dance - Part One . . . Told by Lillie Hoag Whitehorn (1902 - 1994) to Bruce Pearson and Jim Rementer in 1977. Lillie was a member of the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma (now The Delaware Nation), and she was half Caddo.

English:

This is a story that was told to me about the women

Lenape:

Kènu hùnt yukshe ntëlkuk ntëlachimwin nèk xkweyok

English:

when they sing exclusively for the women when they dance.

Lenape:

ènta naxkuhëmënt ènta xkweyok mëkùchi shëk këntkahtit.

English:

My late mother told us this a great while ago

Lenape:

Naka nkahèsa ntihëlëkunèn lòmëwe

English:

a great while ago, about the origin

Lenape:

kìtlòmëwe, hùnt yukwe nën wënchixën yu

English:

of the singing for the women when they dance.

Lenape:

xkweyok ènta naxkuhëmënt ènta këntkahtit.

English:

Long ago the Delawares lived

Lenape:

Kènu hùnt Lënapeyok hùnt mah lòmëwe nèk wikhatu(wàk)

English:

Turkey-Clan and Wolf-Clan then again Turtle-clan people.

Lenape:

Pëleyok òk Tùkwsitàk na làpi Pukuànkuwàk.

English:

There was a man and a woman who lived by themselves

Lenape:

Na hùnt na kwëti lìnu (òk) xkwe nihëlàchi pali wikuwàk

English:

a short distance away, and their little son who was just

Lenape:

paliichi, òk kwitëtëwoo hùnt tànktitu na pilaechëch,

English:

beginning to crawl. Then one day the man told his wife,

Lenape:

kënchawèna alëmi ahpamxkwsu. Na wixkòchi ta hùnt na lìnu tëlao hùnt nèl

English:

told his wife, "I want to go hunting,

Lenape:

witaèmachi tëlao hunt, "Nkata may alai,

English:

I want to go hunting, I am going to look for a turkey."

Lenape:

nkata may alai, nkata may ntunao chikënëm."

English:

The woman said, "That's good."

Lenape:

Na hunt wtëlan na xkwe,"Na ta nëni!"

English:

The man left. The woman and her little son stayed home.

Lenape:

Na hùnt alëmske na lìnu. Na na xkwe nutikeyok na kwitëta hùnt

English:

The boy was just now beginning to be able to crawl,

Lenape:

Na na pilaechëch hùnt kënchawèna alëmi kàski ahpamxkwsu

English:

he couldn't even walk yet.

Lenape:

ku xane kwiakwi kàski pëmëske.

English:

Then it began to look like rain, and was getting cloudy.

Lenape:

Na hùnt kahta sukëlan, alàshi alëmi kahta kùmhòkòt.

English:

Then the woman went outdoors, or rather, she went out.

Lenape:

Na hùnt na xkwe kwëchin hùnt, shëmuch, kchi hùnt.

English:

Then she got her hoe and then went to the garden.

Lenape:

Na wètënëmën èt ma kwipëlënay, na ìka è hakihakànink.

English:

It was the old type of hoe like they used before they

Lenape:

Lòmëwe èt kwipëlënay ènta hnakatèmën ènta kwipëlënay nèkao

English:

the Delawares had no iron so it was made out of

Lenape:

Lënapei hùnt kènu aku sëkahsëni nihëlàchi manitaonu na

English:

deer's jaw. That was what they used to use when they made a garden

Lenape:

ahtuhwi në taompikàn. Na hùnt na tìli hnakaktàmëneyo ènta hakihèhtit.

English:

Then she went to the garden to hoe the corn which hadn't yet started

Lenape:

Na ika tòn hakihakënink èt ma na xàskwim alëmi mèchi kahta

English:

to tassel. Then the woman thought,

Lenape:

mata kwëni kahta xu suwalu èt. Na hùnt na titehan nà xkwe,

English:

"I should cut down or pull up some of the weeds."

Lenape:

"Ntèpi a na alënte në skiko tëmitehëmën òk munënëmën."

English:

Then the woman went there. It was just a short distance

Lenape:

Na hùnt ìka tòn na xkwe. Na kèxiti hùnt òhëlëmìchi

English:

to where their garden was, and she began to work.

Lenape:

na ènta tòkihakanëwa, na hùnt tòlëmënakwsin.

English:

Then it already happened that it was about to rain,

Lenape:

Na èt mah mèchi na mahtèxën ènta kahta sukëlan,

English:

and all at once it thundered. Then that woman

Lenape:

na hùnt ìka wënchi pèthakhòn. Na naka xkweyo hùnt kènu

English:

was struck by the thunders. It then began slowly

Lenape:

ìka talhukwën nèl pèthakhùweyo hùnt. Na alëmi tkaiti alëmi

English:

to rain. Before long it rained hard, and it thundered repeatedly.

Lenape:

sukëlan. Nakè kta hùnt kshilan hùnt, na pèpèthakhòn

English:

That child must have been asleep over there in the house.

Lenape:

Na èt ma na mimëns kawi wëlè wikihtit

English:

Then he awoke and began to look for his mother.

Lenape:

Na èt ma tukihële na nòtunaon nèl kohèsa.

English:

When he couldn't find her, he crawled outside. Then he began to cry.

Lenape:

Na kwilao, na ktùxkwsu hùnt na mimëns kòchëmink ta. Na mëlimu.

English:

About that time the man returned home.

Lenape:

Na èt ma na mayayxkwi na lìnu pèchi ktëki.

English:

Suddenly he saw his little son crawling toward him,

Lenape:

Na kèku yu wëneyòn në kwitëta pèxkwsit,

English:

So he picked him up. He thought, "Whatever is wrong with him?"

Lenape:

Na hùnt wètënan. Na litehe hùnt, "Kèku èt ta èlsit, kèku èt ta wënchi

English:

Something was because the woman never left her son.

Lenape:

ku na ninkalaio na kwisa na xkwe.

English:

So he picked him up and carried him inside, he was really wet.

Lenape:

Na wètënan, hùnt na pwëntuxòlan, wëli skàpsu hùnt.

English:

Then it slowly began to stop raining.

Lenape:

Na tkaiti alëmi òk pàkël(an).

English:

Then he went outside, carrying his son, and and he began to hunt for

Lenape:

Na hùnt kwëchin hùnt na lìnu, na kwënan na kwisa, na tòlëmi ntunaon

English:

for his wife. Then he remembered

Lenape:

nèl xkweyo në witaemachi. Na hùnt mweshatàmën

English:

that she liked to go to the garden. Then they went there,

Lenape:

winki hakihakànink e. Na hùnt nëni tòneyo

English:

and when they got there they found the woman, she was lying there dead,

Lenape:

ènta ìka pahtit na mòxkawoo nèl xkweyo, kèku hùnt waka shenkixin,

English:

as it was there that the thunders struck her.

Lenape:

èt ma ìka tòlhukwën èt ma pèthakhuweyo hùnt.

English:

She was really burned, she looked very black.

Lenape:

Na wëli lusu hùnt, wëli sëkinakwsu.

English:

Nisha

Lenape:

This story is continued in Part Two.

Na Òkwës Òk Na Chëmamës Achimëwakàn

Këkhìtkil Hùnt Na Xanikw

Nushhùkòwën Ta Ni

Xkweyok Enta Naxkuhëmunt Enta Këntkahtit - 2

Weòpsichik Pèchi Witawsumku

Na Ahchinkxat Skixkwe