The Little Boy and the Turtle, by Geneva Holman

Geneva Holman shares a story from her childhood about an event at a church meeting when families would camp over the weekend. Geneva grew up near Boiling Springs Church and currently lives in Ada. She is a wonderful storyteller and happily shares her knowledge with new speakers of Chikashshanompa’. She is a standing member of the Chickasaw Language Committee.
Transcriptions: If what was said cannot be heard well enough, it is marked as (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. If we are unsure what the speaker was saying, 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.
Recording: This audio was recorded on August 8th, 2017, 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

[@chickasawnationcultureandh9224]

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.
Himonnakaꞌ, chipota nakniꞌ uh, yappat. loksiꞌ.
Once there was a little boy there at this place. [And] a turtle.
Uh, aaittanaaꞌ i̱laꞌ, hattak lawaat áyyaꞌshana
At this other church, there was a lot of people there, and
yahna nanna 'aa-albinachiꞌ' aachihnattooka̱, aboowaꞌ, uh, aboowaꞌ ma̱ ilaaimpa micha,
and we used to call it 'Aa-albinachiꞌ', and we ate at this house there and
micha ílla laa-aanosihnattook, yammak.
and we used to just sleep there.
uh, Aa-albinachiꞌ *hmina.
It was a camp site.
"Friday" chohmiꞌ ishtayyakma̱, uh, iláyyaꞌshna "Monday"ookmako̱ tówwaꞌpahnattook.
It would start on like a Friday and we would stay there, until Monday when it would adjourn.
Yahna, uh, chipotaꞌ nakniꞌ mat loksiꞌ hayoꞌshna
And this little boy found this turtle and
loksiꞌ mat, uh, hattak lawatokoot ookya, uh, kaniyaꞌ aya' kiꞌyoot makiini iláyyaꞌshahma̱,
that turtle, there were a lot of people but since he couldn't go anywhere when we were right there,
uh, yaakniꞌ ma̱, uh, uh, ma̱ foloꞌkachihnattook, \foloꞌkachittook\.
he was going fast all over on the ground.
Yahna, uh, chipotaꞌ nakniꞌ maꞌsit, uh, loksi' ma̱ ishchokoshkomo.
And then that little boy played with that turtle.
Yahna uh chokoshkomot ishtántahma̱, uh, ikalhchibo'so yaatok.
And then while he was playing with it he [his little brother] cried for a while.
Yahna i̱maamaat, "katihmi, katihmi uh ishyaaha? ootpisa!" imaachi,
And then his mother, "why, why is he crying? go and see!" she said to him,
i̱nakfi' ma̱ pisa'chi ima'shna, ootpisatok.
she told him to go see his younger brother, and he went and saw about him.
Yahna "ooh, uh, katihmi?"
And then, "Oh, why?" [the brother said],
uh "loksiꞌmakoot okkisaꞌ ma̱ imokshittato, uh \imokshitta\ yánkakoot yaa yahmi."
"That turtle closed his door on him, that's why he's crying."
uh, "Katihmi yaaha?"
"Why is he crying?"
"Loksi' mat okkisaꞌmako̱ imokshitta yahna kani̱htokoot
"That turtle closed his doors on him, and because he did that,
uh, pisaꞌ kiꞌyo miya, loksiꞌ ma," ingma̱ chipota nakniꞌ mat imaachitok.
he couldn't see anything no more, that turtle," the little boy told her.
Yahna i̱maamaat, uh, "Ooh, kani̱htokoot uh, uh, kisilaꞌnikyá̱ꞌsha, loksiꞌ mat."
And then his mother said, "Ooh, since he's doing that, he might bite you, that turtle."
Yahna, uh, lá̱waat ootpisakat pílla ollalit ishtayattook.
And then more [people] went and saw it and just started laughing.
Yahna chipota nakniꞌ mat yâa kaní̱hka̱, yahna, "Oh, uh, nosi, nosi bannookokoot yahmi."
And that little boy was really crying, and, "Oh, he wants to go to sleep."
"Yánkako̱ okkisa' ma̱ oshittatok, ya̱sha."
"And that’s why he shut the door, that's why."
Chipota nakniꞌ maꞌsit i̱maama' imaachi, yahna, i̱maamaꞌ, "Yahmikyá̱ꞌsha!"
The little boy told his mother and the mother [said], "Maybe so!"
uh, "Ingma̱ hinaꞌ bla ishtayyalit talhoffichilaꞌchi."
"Then I'm going to take it down the road and turn it loose,"
uh, "kani̱htokoot, uh, okkisaꞌ ma̱ intowwilaꞌh kiꞌyootokoot," aꞌshna,
"since I can't open the door for him," he said, and,
"Hoꞌmi, yamma̱ bla ishtishiyyakma̱, uh, towwikma̱, uh, ilbak yamma̱ kisilaꞌnikyá̱ꞌsha," imaꞌshna,
"Ok, if you take him there and if it opens up, he might bite a hand," she said to him and,
uh, "Ooh, yahmaꞌnikyá̱ꞌsha!"
"Ooh, he might do it!"
Oh, nittak, uh \sipokniꞌ\ alhihaꞌ mat "loksiꞌ mat yoklikma̱ talhoffichaꞌh ki'yo," aachihnattook.
The old people used to say, "if that turtle catches it, it can't turn it loose."
Yahna, uh, "omba micha holihowa chohmikmako̱, hilowakmako̱, intalhoffichaꞌni," aachihnattook.
And "until it's like raining and lightening, until it's thundering, he won't turn it loose," they used to say [a long time ago].
Yahna, "oooh, yammak pílla ookano?"
And, "ooh, is that so?"
"Okkisaꞌ mat okshilitta bílliꞌyakma̱, chokmaꞌnaꞌni," chipota nakniꞌ maꞌsit aachittook.
"It might be good if that door closed all the time," the little boy said.
Yahna, uh anyway, hinaꞌ bla ishtiyyacha uh kaniꞌma̱ uh okaꞌ lá̱wahma̱
And then, anyway, he took him to the road where there was a lot of water,
"intalhoffichilaꞌchi," aꞌshna ishtiyyattook.
and "I'll turn you loose," he said and took it there.

[@MrsAngieDrumm]

Thank your for this. Captions would be very helpful.

[@addisonkarl]

A blessing to hear our elders speak. Perhaps a better call to action to learn Chickasaw, as oppose to demanding English.