Frog Legs, by Virginia Bolen

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Virginia Bolen tells a story from her childhood, when she learned how to cook frog legs. Virginia grew up in a multilingual household in the Happyland / Kullihoma / Steedman area and is an active member of the Chickasaw Language Committee.
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 *stars*. 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.
Recording: This audio was recorded on June 2, 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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Here is the full transcription of her story. To turn on subtitles in the video, please click the [CC] icon in the lower right corner of the video screen.
Samínta katí̠ꞌmahmat (holis)saapisaꞌ á̠ana obya chokkaꞌ onalihma̱, Mama aachihmat
When I was still young I was at school all day and when I came home in the
evening, Mama said,
"Chimpapa, hoyyaniꞌ mat abit ishtahlimat, ishhopoonaꞌhi bíyyiꞌka?"
"Your papa, he's done killing the frogs, can you cook it?"
"I̱i," aashlito(k).
"Yes," I said.
Yahmihmat "Kati̱sht ishhopooni?" imasilhlhali.
Then "How do you cook it?" I asked her.
Sashkiꞌ aachihmat "Tiloꞌkoꞌ, hapi, hommaꞌ losaꞌ, mó̱maꞌ ishonashaachi."
My mother said, "Flour, salt, pepper, you put them all on it."
Yahmihmat "Awaalhahlichihmat, uh, uh, nihaꞌ yamma̠ palli makilla."
And "when frying it, the oil has to be hot."
"(Hoꞌ)mi," aashlihmat iksaasht tahli.
"Okay," I said and fixed it all up.
Nihaꞌ pallit tahahma̱, hoyyaniꞌ iyyobiꞌ mat okaa-ashaashli.
When the oil was all hot, I put the frog legs in the hot oil.
Ingma̱ a̱maamiꞌaashoot aboochaffoꞌ ma̱ bínniꞌli.
And so my mother is sitting in the other room
Ingmat aabínniꞌlikat, nanna aahopoonilikat pisaꞌhi bíyyiꞌkato(k).
And from where she's sitting, she can see where I'm cooking.
Yahmihmat ántalihmat, "Hmm, nipiꞌ ma̱ nona iklannootoko̱,"
So when I was there, "Hmm, because the meat's half cooked,"
"ooto̠filillichi makilla," aashli.
"[I've] got to go and turn it over," I said.
Chofaak ma̱ ootí̠ꞌshli.
I got the fork.
Pitbaafili'chikat, hoyyaniꞌ iyyiꞌ mat halalli!
As it turned over, that frog leg jerked!
Maafka, yappat halallina yakohmikat "Aaaaa!" aꞌshcha sha-pila pitmallili.
About that time, this thing jerked and "Aaah!" [I] said and I jumped way over
there.
Mamaꞌashoot ôollali.
Mama just laughed.
Ollaliꞌ salamikaash sahashiili.
She laughed so much she made me mad.
"Kati̱hmih(ta) chiksamanoꞌlokoto(k), yahmaꞌchikaꞌni?"
"Why didn't you tell me this could happen?"
"Oh, ishnaako̱ kani̠hsh ishhopoonikat pisa sabannatok," aashto(k).
"Oh, I just wanted to see how you(emphasized) cooked it," she said.
Ántalihmat nonasht tahli.
I finished cooking it.
Hoyyaniꞌ nipiꞌ mat apat chokmookya, *illakasaat* nannookya chimano̱li kiꞌyo!
The frog's meat tastes good but, nobody tells you nothing!
Yahmikya, ishithanaꞌchi kani̠hsh ishhopoonikat.
No matter what, you are going to learn how to cook.
Mílla. Makilla.
That's all. That's all.