Roping a Calf, by Jerry Imotichey

The late Jerry Imotichey (1938-2016) shares another story from his childhood. This story talks about a time when he tried to be a cowboy and rode a calf belonging to his father. Jerry was a long-time collaborator with the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program. He was a skilled teacher of the language, as well as being a prodigious translator, working on many projects including language publications for the Chickasaw Press.
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 May 17, 2013, 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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Below is the full transcript:
Yappat sachipóntaka̠ or sahi~ \sahimíntaka̠\.
This is when I was a child or when I was young.
Nanna kani̠hlitokat chimano̠lila'chi.
I will tell you what I did.
Sahimí̱'tacha sasipoknikat pokoli awa-toklotok, semmi (sayimmi).
I was young and I was twelve years old, I believe.
Yamma fkhaka̠ (fokhaka̱),
Around then,
am~ aminkiꞌat yaalhpa anchompatok, himonnaka'.
my father bought me a hat at one time.
Yamma yaalhpa mat, Naahollookano "cowboy hat" aachi.
That hat, white man calls it a "cowboy hat."
Yamma̠ anchompattook. Yakma̠ ano̠wa',
That's what he bought me. And again,
uh "cowboy boots" aachika̠ makookya anchompa, sholosh ma̠.
what they call "cowboy boots," he bought me those too, those shoes.
Yá̠hna yakmat balaafka' imaafokha tahlikmat,
Then when I put pants [jeans] on,
yammat waaka', \waaka' lhiyohli'\ saya amahoobattooka'ni.
I must have thought I was a cowboy.
Yakmat amponna am(ah)ooba,
And I thought I was an expert,
yaalhpa ma̠ yaalhpilitokoot ano̠wa'
because I had got that hat on and
sholosh ma̠ hóyyo'li~ \hóyyo'lilitokoot\.
because I had those boots on.
Waakaat tokloot pomáyya'shattook, yamma̠.
We had two cows, there.
Haatoko̠ chaffaat, uh, uh, lii~ ilimbishlichi.
So one of them we would milk.
Yammako̠ pishokchi' ilooaa-ishi loo-ishkohnattook. Haatoko̠,
So she's the one we would get milk from that we used to drink. So,
haatoko̠ yammako̠ yahmilit kiyahnattook*.
so that's what I used to have to do [milk the cow].
Ankaat yammakoot waaka' ma̠ imbishlichila'n banna. Yakmat
My father is the one who wanted me to milk the cow. And also
waaka' ma̱ imbishlichili'chihmat,
when I was going to milk that cow,
ootayalik makíllahnattook.
I used to have to go and get her.
Ootayalit, ishtalakchi' uh, i̠nokstap apakfohlilit,
I would go after her and, tie a rope around her neck and,
ishtalalik makíllahnattook.
I used to have to bring her back.
Yakmat uh, nanna aaimbishlichi' yamma̠ ishtonalikmat,
And then uh, when I would get her to the milking stall,
uh, takchilik makíllahnattook.
I used to have to tie her.
Haatokoot takchit wayaashli, waaka' ma̠.
So I tied her there, that cow.
Yakmat imbishlichili.
And then I would milk her.
Haatokoot, yakma ano̠wa',
So, then again,
waakoshi'at i̠wáyyaꞌttook yamma̠, waaka' mat.
she had a calf there, that cow did.
Haatokoot ishto tahaka̠, ombiniili sabanna.
So when he got big, I wanted to ride him.
Yakmat pihí̠sli.
And I kept looking at it.
Yakma̠ ano̠wa' ampaapa'at amaachimat "Yammo'n ishombiniilinna."
And so my father said to me, "Don't be getting on that one [calf]."
"Iskannoꞌsiꞌ salami."
"He is too small."
Yahmik(ya), ombiniili' sabahánna himmaka' himmaka'.
Even so, I still wanted to get on him day after day.
Yahmi na'cha, ankaat kaniyaka̠,
Finally, when my father left,
aaikshoka̠, ombiniililittook.
while he wasn't there, I got on him.
Yoklilit takchit,
I grabbed him and tied him,
takchit wayaashlit ombiniilili.
tied him there and got on him.
Haatokoot, chipota nakni' chaffaat ano̠wa ánta yamma̠.
So, there was another young boy there.
Yamma sabaachokoshoma~ \chokoshkomoka'\.
He was my playmate.
Imaashlihmat, "Ishtalofficha'shki tak~ \ishtalakchi' ma̠\."
I said to him, "Untie that rope there."
"Ishtaloffichikma̠, ombi~ \ombiniilila'chi\," or uh,
"When you untie him, I will get on him," or uh,
"Ombiniilila'chi, waakoshi' ma̠."
"I will ride that calf."
Haatoko̠ taloffí̠'shna,
So when he turned him loose,
yammat mallit ishtaya. Ya̱hna
he started jumping. Then
asakánchi.
he threw me.
Ookya talakchikat í̠'mootoko̠,
But because he was still tied,
nanna sabaachokoshkomaat,
my playmate,
\chipota' nakni' sabaachokoshkomo mat\, oot~
the boy that would play with me, went~
ishtalakchi' ma̱ oot~ \ootí̱'shcha\ falánt ishtala, waakoshi' ma̠.
he went and grabbed the rope and brought it back, the calf.
Yamma̱ ishtaafalamahma̱ ishtalakma̠, ombiniilili.
When he brought it back, I got on him [again].
Asakánchi yah(mi)ná'cha aaissachilittook.
He kept throwing me and so I quit.