they’uwulh ni’ ’utl’ kwa’mutsun | Building a Canoe at Quamichan

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• Title: they’uwulh ni’ ’utl’ kwa’mutsun | Building a Canoe at Quamichan
• Description: Man standing with dugout canoe in front of Quamichan Village. The second photo shows paddlers at the ready in a racing canoe.

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hwuhwilmuhw knowledge

• Speaker/Story Teller: Sti’tuma’t | Ruby Peter (Kwa’mutsun Elder)
• Date of recording: 27 Oct, 2025
• Listen to the recording in Hul’q’umi’num’:

The first racing canoes

1. ’een’thu sti’tum’at, Ruby ttthunu s-hwunitum’a’lh nu sne.
   I’m Sti’tum’at, Ruby Peter my white man’s name. 
2. thu snuhwulh ni’ teyuwulh ’i’ thuytus tthu s’ul’elhuhw kwus hwu yu ’i’watul’ tthu mustimuhw ’u tthu teyuwulh.
   The canoes that were built by the elders, and these are the ones that they used for racing, competing in the water. 
3. ’i’ nilh kw’unu si’lu hwulqwimut ’ilh ’uw’ hwun’a’ tuw’ theyt tthu teyuwulh.
   And it was my grandfather Alphonse George that built the first racing canoe. 
4. ’i’ tst ts’wa’ ni’ ’u kwthu ’apun ’i’ kw’ touhw lhuhwulhshe’’i’ kw’ lhq’etsus ’i’ they’tus thu tuw’ hwun’a’ ’ul’.
   It was in about 1935 when he first built the first racing canoe. 
5. ’i’ ha’ ni’ thuytum thu teyuwulh ’i’ nanulh nuw’ tl’ist-hwus tthu hwulmuhw kws st’e kws yu thuyt-s kwsus  xut’ust-hwus nuw’ huli tthu xpey’.
   The native people really believed that the cedar tree is something that is alive. 
6. nanulh ’uw’ tl’i’stuhw tthu xpey’.
   They always treasured the cedar. 
7. ’i’ nilh ni’ ha’kwushus kwus xute’um’ ’u tthu teyuwulh.
   And that’s what’s used for building canoes. 
8. hay tthey’ ’uw’ ni’ hwun’a’ tuw’ thuytus kw’unu si’lu ’i’ hwutus.
   The first one that my grandfather built was very heavy. 
9. tl’lim’ ’uw’ hay ’ul’ ’uw’ plhet.
   It was very thick. 
10. ni’ tsun mel’q kwthu snes kwthey’.
    I forgot the name of it. 
11. ’u.u.um, sht’eewun’ tsun lhu’i Stella Mars, kwthey’, hwun’a’ yelh tuw’ thuytus.
    Umm, I think that was Stella Mars, that first canoe he built.
12. ’i’ lhuw’ hwun’ ’i’iwulh lhu ni’ ha’kwushus kwthunu me’mun’u kwus hwun’a’ tuw’ thuythut-s  teti’s.
    It was still here when my children started learning how to paddle race canoe, and they used that canoe. 
13. ’i’ nilh ha’kwushus kwthey’ hwun’a’
    That’s what they used for practicing. 
14. ’i’ ha’ niilh le’shus tthu sul’eluhw ’u kwus wulh tum’xuytl’ ’i’ nuw’ ts’wa’ ’u kwthu kwus wulh m’i yu xuytl’thutw wulh yul’ew’ tthu tum’kw’e’lus ’i’ October ts’twa’ ’i’ ni’ le’shus tthu snuhwulh tst, teyuwulh.
    And when the old people put it away for the winter, when it’s getting cold, summer is past, in about October, and they put the racing canoes away. 
15. ’i’ nilh tsle’lum’ut ni’ ’u tthu thi lelum’ kwus sun’iw’stum’ ’u tthu thi lelum’, ni.i.i’ tsitsulh ni’ ’u tthu s’a’kw’us ’u tthu qequn’.
    I used to see them inside the longhouses and they would have it hanging way up on the crossbeams rafters. 
16. thuytum tthu shni’s kwus q’pas shni’s.
    And they would build a place to slide the canoe in and they would have it upside down. 
17. ni’ tse’ yu qw’iqw’ul’us ’i’ ni’ m’i tl’pilshum ’utl’qtum tl’e’wulh hakwushum.
    It would be in the spring, turning summer when they bring it out to use again. 
18. nilh tl’uw’ st’ee ’u tthu sq’umul’s, nilh tl’uw’ le’shum.
    And it’s the same with the paddles, they are put away. 
19. nuw’ wulh sxuxits nuw’ nuts’tul tthu sq’umul’ tthu teyuwulh ’u tthu q’huw’lh,
    The paddles vary in sizes between the racing canoe and the voyageur. 
20. hay tthu teyuwulh hay tthu sheshum’ ’ul’, ’uwu niis tl’up.
    The racing canoes are very shallow, it’s not very deep.
21. nuw’ stl’atl’um’ ’ul’ tthu ’upeenu ’i’ kw’ yey’sul’u kwus ’aalh ’u kwus teti’ tl’e’tl’hwitul’.
    And it holds about 12 men (11 men) for the canoe racing competition.

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Key information

• Time period or Date: 1914
• Theme(s): Canoes and Boats, People, Transportation
• Location: Quamichan
• Source info (type – name): Museum — Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives
• Photographer credit: Unknown
• Individuals identified: First Image: Possibly Alphonse George; Second Image (selected): B. Alphonse, Al Dan, Herbert Bile, Dennio Bill, David Joe Jr., Fred Jack, Wes Day, August Day Jr., Joe, Laurence Edwards.

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