H uÂÏum uµ W ords

Hu?oeum?!u? Words An

English-to-Hu?oeum?!u? and Hu?oeum?!u?-to-English Dictionary

Prepared for the Chemainus, Nanaimo, and Nanoose First Nations and Nanaimo School District No. 68

December, 1997

? 1997

Donna B. Gerdts, The Chemainus First Nation, the Nanaimo First Nations, the Nanoose First Nation, and the First Nations Education Services, School District 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith)

This work can be photocopied for educational or scholastic purposes with permission from the Hu?oeum?!u? Language Project. The Project can be reached through any of the above parties.

Cover art by Noel Brown.

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Edited by:

Donna B. Gerdts (Simon Fraser University) Leonard Edwards (Nanoose First Nation) Charles H. Ulrich (University of British Columbia) Brian D. Compton (University of British Columbia)

Contributing Elders:

Wilfred Aleck (Chemainus) Anne Bob (Nanoose) Jim Bob (Nanoose)

Leonard Edwards (Nanoose) May Frenchie (Nanaimo) Hazel Good (Nanaimo) Margaret James (Nanaimo) Emily Manson (Nanaimo)

Dora Sampson (Chemainus) Steve Sampson, Sr. (Chemainus)

Bill Seward (Nanaimo) Chester Thomas (Nanaimo)

Eva Thomas (Nanaimo) Theresa Thorne (Cowichan) Anderson Tommy (Nanaimo)

Ellen White (Nanaimo) George Wyse (Nanaimo)

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Acknowledgments

The production of this book has been sponsored by the Nanoose First Nation through a grant from the First People's Cultural Foundation. We thank them for their support, which was essential for the completion of this work. We thank Barbara Barltrop, Leonard Edwards, and Andy Klakikat for securing these funds, and Reinouw Abbott, project coordinator, and Barbara Barltrop, project administrator, for supervising our work.

The Nanoose Elders made up the core production team on this project. Leonard Edwards vetted a preliminary version. Then Anne Bob, Jim Bob, and Leonard Edwards discussed and corrected the data. Thanks to these Elders for their diligent work and also for keeping the project on track, especially when it all seemed so overwhelmingly tedious. Thanks also to Jenny Bob for assisting with meetings.

The research underlying this book came about as a joint project between Nanaimo School District No. 68 and the Chemainus, Nanaimo, and Nanoose First Nations. We thank the First Nations representatives, Barbara Barltrop (Nanoose), Terry Sampson (Chemainus), and Barbara White (Nanaimo), for their help and cooperation. We would also like to thank Judy Fraser, Jim Kellogg, Leslie Lippert, and Donna Ross of School District 68, who facilitated the planning and implementation process, and Adele Klatt, for providing administrative support. Thanks to Mercedes Hinkson, Simon Fraser University, for initiating this project and helping with the first round of research. Thanks to David Bodaly, Geraldine Manson, and Maria Seward for coordinating the Elders' meetings that took place during 1994-1997. The Chemainus, Nanaimo, and Nanoose First Nations provided space for our meetings and transportation for the Elders. Also thanks to Geraldine Manson and Penny Seward for inviting us to participate in the Nanaimo Elders' group.

Funding for the research came from the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Education, through two Aboriginal Education Curriculum Development Grants and two Implementation Grants spanning the period of 1994-1997. We also acknowledge support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Jacobs Fund, and Simon Fraser University through a President's Research Grant. SFU also provided the

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audio equipment used in this project. Thanks to Dr. Evan Alderson, former Dean of Arts, Simon Fraser University, for allowing my time to be seconded to the language project. Buy-out was jointly accomplished by the Nanoose First Nation, the Nanaimo First Nations Treaty Negotiation Office, and School District 68. We also thank the Nanaimo First Nations Treaty Negotiations Office for their support for research on placenames and on flora and fauna.

The identifications and discussions of flora and fauna are based on the remarks of the Elders. Working with ethnobiologist Brian Compton, the Elders examined specimens or photographs and made cultural commentaries about their location and use. In some instances, identifications are only tentative. Further work is under way to expand and improve our understanding of the traditional and contemporary cultural significance of the biological world. We hope to complete a more detailed work on flora and fauna in the near future.

Charles Ulrich was responsible for font design, technical assistance, data entry, word processing, and producing and editing the manuscript. We thank him for seeing this project through and also for understanding our commitment to research on the language.

Tom Hukari and Wayne Suttles, mentors and colleagues, have been very helpful in verifying data. Dr. Hukari's Cowichan Dictionary has not only provided a tremendous reference that has greatly assisted this project but has also set a very high standard of scholarship. We hope that we have adequately followed in his footsteps. We thank Dr. Suttles for sharing his knowledge with us. His comments on flora, fauna, placenames, and items of material culture have been very important. We are also indepted to both Dr. Hukari and Dr. Suttles for discussion of loans from English and from Chinook Jargon.

Thanks go to the other Elders and also families of the Elders for their interest in this work. We especially thank Charlotte Aleck, Jenny Bob, Donna Edwards, Geraldine Manson, Agnes Padilla, Steve Sampson, Jr., and Penny Seward. Their commitment will build a bridge to the future for the language. We also thank Benedict Alphonse for visiting our project and sharing his knowledge.

Saving the most important to last, we express our deepest appreciation and affection to the Elders who so generously shared their knowledge of the Hu?oeum?!u? language. No thanks can ever be sufficient for the effort that

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