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- Title: hulelum’ ni’ ’utl’ tl’ulpalus | Houses at Cowichan Bay
- Title spoken by: Pul-hwuletse’ | Wayne Charlie
- Description: Houses at the shoreline of Cowichan Bay Village.
hwuhwilmuhw knowledge
- Speaker/Story Teller: Sti’tuma’t | Ruby Peter (Kwa’mutsun Elder)
- Date of recording:
- Listen to the recording in Hul’q’umi’num’:
About sharing cabins at Cowichan Bay
- ’een’thu sti’tum’at Ruby Peter tthu s-hwunitum’a’lh nu sne.
I’m sti’tum’at, Ruby Peter is my english name. - kw’un’a wulh hith, ’i tsun ts’twa’ t’xum sil’anum tth’a’kwus sil’anum ni’ ts’twa’ ni’ ’u kwthu 1940.
A long time ago I was about six or seven years old, that was about 1940. - ’i’ ya.a.ath ’ulh ’uw’ ne’nuts’uwt-hwum’ tthunu shhwuw’weli nem’ hunum’ ’u thu shhwelushs thunu ten shhwaqw’a’s tthunu men, shuyulhs.
And my parents used to always go and visit her sister-in -aw, my father’s sister, older sister. - ’i’ yath ’uw’ saay’ tthu hul’ul’lum’ ni’ ’u tthu tsuwmun ’utl’ tl’ulpalus.
And there were always cabins ready there at the beach below Cowichan Bay. - ’i’ yath tsun ’uw’ putum’, “nilh kwu’elh t-hwet thun’a hul’ul’lum.”
And I was always asking, whose little houses are these, these little buildings. - suw’ qwiil’qwul’s thunu ten, “ni’ p’e’ they’tus tthu mustimuhw tthu ni’ q’eputsum tthunuts’a’wuqw sus ’uw’ they’tus thu li’lum’ shni’s kws q’uq’ulum’s.”
And my mother was telling me, “The people used to get together and each group/family would collect money and that’s how they would build these cabins where they could camp.” - ts’uhwle’ ’i’ s’iiltuw’t-hw tthu ni’ saay’stum’.
Sometimes they would fix up the portable lean-to buildings. - saay’stum’ nilh ni’ shhwhunum’s kws nem’s ’a’luxutus kwthu s’ulhtun ni’ ’u tthu kw’atl’kwu nuw’ mukw’ ’ul’ stem ni’ ’a’luxutus.
And that’s what they prepared to go and harvest food in the sea and along the seashore. - ni’ kwthu ni’ tsunihwulh, ni’ nem’ ’i’mush nem’ tutuyul’ nem’ ’a’luxutus kwthu stem ni’ kwthu ni’…s’axwa’, kwthu ni’ ’aluxutus suw’ the.e.e.y’tus.
Some of them would have canoes and they would get many different things. They would go out into the water and harvest things, some of them would dig clams and prepare it right down at the beach. - qux kwthu ni’ ’ulh [sthe’yuw’t-hwum] ’iilh ’u yuhw t’xum lhu hul’ul’lum’ ’iilh sthuthi’ ’i ’utl’ tl’ulpalus ’i’ ni.i.i’ naalts’tul tthu ni’ thuyt thu hul’ul’lum’.
There were about 6 little cabins that were lined up there at Cowichan Bay. - ’i’ niilh kwthu ni’ ’uw’ hakwush ’ul’ ni’ hwnul’ts’a’wuqw tthuw’ne’ullh ni’…
And there were different groups of families and any one of those families could make use of those cabins to harvest their food. They were all in family groups. - sus nem’ ’uw’ ha’ ni’ stl’i’s kwsus ’aluxut-s kwthu stem s’axwa’, stem ’ul’ s’ulhtun tun’ni’ ’u tthu kw’atl’kwu, ’i’ nilhs nem’ suw’ ni’ ’u kwthey’ q’ulum’ ’u kwthu kw’in skweyul.
If they wanted to harvest clams and other food from the seashore, they would go camp there for several days. - ni’ huye’ kwthu hwnuts’a’wuqw ’i’ hwi’ nets’ kwthu nem’ [ni’ tus] ’uya’qtul’ tthuw’ne’ullh.
They would take turns in the use of the cabins. - sisuw’ ts’ey’hwtus tthuw’ne’ullh tthu swe’s tthu tum’xuytl’.
Then they dry it for winter. - qu.u.uxulh thu hul’ul’lum’ ni’ nal’tstul kwthu nuts’a’wuqw ’u thu nuts’a’ li’lum’.
There used to be lots of houses and many different families to one house. - kw’iinu tthuw’ne’ullh kwus yu ’aaya’qtul’ kwthuw’ sht’es ’ul’ kwus stl’i’s kws nem’s tl’ulhnenum ’i’ nilh tse’ sus ’uw’ nem’ ’u kwthey’.
There were so many of them that would switch off and when they wanted to go gathering food and they would go there. - nanulh ’uw’ qux s’ulhtun, qux s’axwa’ ni’ ’u tthu tsetsuw’ ’utl’ tl’ul’palus, we’ tthu xihwu, tthu p’uwi’, tul’i’tq’us, ’eeyt ’i’nilh nuw’…
There were always plenty of food, especially clams, plenty of clams at Cowichan Bay, even the sea urchins, flounders, little rock cod, lingcod, and… - ’uwu ’ul’ niis hith kws ni’s ’u tthey’ ’i’ ni’ wulh q’upnehwus tthu s’ulhtuns.
It doesn’t even take long to gather their food there. - nanulh ’uw’ qux s’ulhtun ni’ kwen’nuhwus.
There used to get plenty of food over there at Cowichan Bay. - qxe’luts tthu niilh hunum’.
There were many families that used to go over there. - ’uwu kws tsti’yuxweens, nuw’ ts’its’uw’atul’ ’ul’.
There was never any trouble, they just helped one another when they were all together.
by Ruby Peter
Transcribed, translated, and edited by Ruby Peter and Donna Gerdts
Key information
- Time period or Date: TBD
- Theme(s): Villages, Buildings, Canoes and Boats
- Location: Cowichan Bay
- Source info (type – name): Museum — Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives
- Photographer credit: Unknown
- Individuals identified: N/A
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