Granny's Dog, by Stanley Smith

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The late Stanley Smith (1945-2020) shares some memories from his childhood. In this story, he remembers his Granny's remarkable dog, Red. Stanley was a long-time employee with the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program. He was a skilled teacher of the language and assisted many young speakers in their journey towards fluency.
Transcriptions: If what was said cannot be heard well enough, it is marked as being (inaudible). In some instances, a speaker may go back and correct themselves, and these are marked like \this\, to indicate that \this\ replaces the previous word or phrase. Sometimes we are unsure what the speaker was saying but we give a best guess using a star *. If a speaker is shortening a word, we give the fuller form in (parentheses) next to it.
Translations: The English translations were done with guidance from native speakers. Sometimes, some clarifying words were added in [brackets], although this information is not part of what was actually said in Chikashshanompaꞌ (the Chickasaw language).
Recording: This audio was recorded on June 3, 2015 as part of a Documenting Endangered Languages / National Science Foundation grant (BCS-1263699 and BCS-1263698). This work was supported in part by an American Rescue Plan grant, #90XN0047.
Image: Photograph by Ryan RedCorn (Osage).
www.chickasawlanguage.com
www.chickasaw.tv/language
www.chickasaw.net
Keywords: Chickasaw, Chickasaw language, Native language, Indigenous Language, Traditional Narratives, American Indian, Native American, First American, National Science Foundation

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The full transcription and translation is below:
Saskanno'sihma̱, pitpisali aasahofantihnakaash.
When I was small, I look back to where I grew up.
Ingma bínni't anokfilli
So I sit here thinking about
ponchokka' yamma̱ - ano', Granny, Grandpa,
our house - me, Granny, Grandpa,
sashko'si' toklo' - looáyya'sha yamma̱.
and my two aunts - where we lived.
Ingma̱ Grandmaat hopoona'chikmat,
So when Grandma was getting ready to cook,
"itti' ishtishla'n, impa chibannookma̱," amaachi.
"go get some wood, if you want to eat," she would tell me.
Ingma̱ Grannyat, ofi' imántahnattook.
So Granny, she had a dog.
Red holhchifo.
His name was Red.
Ofi' mat imanompoli, Grannyat.
Granny talked to that dog.
Yammakookya imaachihnattook.
And she’d tell him that, too.
"Impa chibannookma̱, ishapilaꞌn. Itti' ishtishlaꞌn."
"If you want to eat, you'd better help him. Go get some wood."
Ofi' yammat, nanna Grannyat imaachihma̱, yahmihnattook.
That dog, whatever Granny told him, he’d do it.
Haatoko̱ ofi' ma̱ sáwwali'shna
And so the dog would follow me and
itti' aa-áyyaꞌsha' bla iliyya.
we’d go to the woodpile.
Itti' ma̱, itti' toklo' f(o)kho iti' fokhili,
I’d put the wood, about two pieces of wood in his mouth,
falánt kitchen bla ishtayya.
[and] he’d take it back to the kitchen.
Íngma̱ áwwali'shli.
So I’d follow him.
Wood bin cho̱ꞌsikat,
Something like a little wood bin,
wood box cho̱ꞌsikat a̱shakaꞌ \stove a̱shakaꞌ\ ma̱ tállaꞌa,
or like a little wood box was sitting behind the stove,
yamma̱ ilanni.
we’d put it in there.
Imma ofi' ma̱ ootan~ oota'nicha (mi)sha' bla ootbiniili.
And the dog would put it in there and go sit down over [in a corner].
Ootbiniilihma̱, Grannyat,
When he’d sit down, Granny [would ask him],
"Yammat alhpisa chimahooba?"
"Do you think that’s enough?"
"Ishtishla'n ano̱wa'."
"Go get some more."
Íngma̱ falant iliyya
And then, we’d go back
ano̱wa layo'wacha falánt ishlila.
again we’d gather it and bring it back.
Imalhpí'sa tahlakmat* "Yammat,
When she was satisfied [she’d say], "That,
*Note: According to Dr. Pamela Munro, imalhpí'sa selects for the auxiliary 'taha'. It appears that Stanley Smith may be combining the words 'taha' and 'tahli' in this sentence.
\Ná yammat\ alhpísa'cha̱y(m)ha."
\Now, that\ will be enough."
Aachikma̱, ootliibiniili.
When she’d say it, we'd go sit down.
Ofi' mat, Grannyat nanna imaachikma̱, yahmihnattook.
That dog, whatever Granny told him, he would do it.
Kani̱hkma̱, ofi' mat Chikashsha amahoobahnattook.
Sometimes, I’d think that dog was Chickasaw.
Ookya ofi' mat haklo chôokma nanna Grannyat imaachihma̱,
That dog would really listen when Granny said something to him,
yahma'chitoko̱.
because he was going to do it.
Kani̱hkma̱, impa'chi nipi' iksho.
Sometimes, we didn’t have any meat to eat.
"Impa chibannookmat, fani' ishtishla'n."
[She’d tell him,] "If you want to eat, you’d better bring a squirrel."
Kochchaat kaniyahnattook.
He’d go out and be gone.
Bout 30 minutes, 45 minutes fokha'sikma̱, fani' ishtalahnattook.
In 30 minutes, 45 minutes just about, he’d bring a squirrel back.
"I̱i, yammat alhpisa'cha̱y(m)," imaachi.
"Yes, this will be enough," she’d tell him.
Íngma̱ misha' bla ootbiniili.
And then he’d go sit down over there.
Grannyat fani' ma̱ iksaasht táhcha
Granny would fix up the squirrel and
hakshop chohmiꞌ ofi' yamma̱ ima,
she’d give the skin to the dog,
salhkonacha chohmaꞌ apa'chika̱.
and also the guts so he could eat it.
Kani̱hkma̱, apat lootahlookma̱, kani̱hkma̱ ima ofi', fani' ma̱.
Sometimes, if we [didn’t] finish eating it, she’d give the [rest of the] squirrel to the
dog.
Haatoko̱ ofi' yammat chôokmahnattook!
So that dog was really good!
Kani̱hkma̱ chipota alhiha' mat chihmi.
Sometimes he’d be like those kids.
Chipota alhiha' áyya'shahma̱ ibaachokoshkomo.
He’d play with the children that were there.
Kani̱hkma̱ chipota yamma̱ chihmi amahoobahnattook.
Sometimes I used to think he was just like the kids.
Grannyat ofi' yamma̱ i̱hollohnattook.
Grandma really loved that dog.
Kanookya i̱nókko'wa'n ikbanno.
She didn’t want anybody to get onto to him.
Ilaapakoot nanna ikimaꞌchookma̱ íllak-alhihaꞌ oꞌn(o) imaacha'hi ki'yo.
If she didn’t say anything to him then nobody else could.
Haatoko̱ ofi' ma̱ i̱nokowo̱(k)mo̱*,
And so, if [anyone] got after the dog,
*Note: This appears to be a variant of i̱nokowookma̱.
ilaapakoot i̱nokowahnattook.
she would get after them.
Ofi' yamma̱ Granny imitha̱n(a) ahoobahnattook, nanna imaachikma̱ cause,
It seemed like that dog understood what Granny was saying to him, because
nanna imaachi, yahmihnattookootoko̱.
whatever she said to him, he would do it.
Haatoko̱, ofi'at chóyyokma yamma̱ chóyy(ohmi) kaniyaꞌ akpiꞌso.
And so, I haven’t seen a dog as good as that anywhere.
Baꞌ! Salhpakonnahnattookchi̱ anhili kani̱hkma̱.
So sometimes I wonder if I just dreamed [all that] about him!
Haatoko̱ "my story" ma̱ yamma̱ á̱lhlhi.
And so that’s the end of my story.
Yammak ílla!
That’s all.