XML version dated February 14, 2024. © Douglas R. Parks, Indiana University.
116
The Sioux Captive
Tortured by Mosquitoes
Dan Howling Wolf
| niikohniíhiʾ | – | nataraakítAt | – | noowitinoohúnoʾ | toxtaapóʾ | naawiinakuúnuʾ. |
| Wherever it was | – | our village, | – | then they planned it: | "Let's go | (on) the warpath!" |
| noowiwitiinawireéhAs. |
| Then they prepared them elves. |
| xaawaarúxtiʾ | tinaaničitawiiruútIt. |
| Horses | they mounted them. |
| nootiraáNAt. |
| Then they went. |
| nuu | noowitiraáNAt. |
| There | then they went. |
| sanánat | noowitinaanunáx. |
| Sioux | then they found them. |
| tiwaápAt. |
| They fought. |
| tiRAxUhuúna | sanánat. |
| There was a fight | (with) the Sioux. |
| tiinaakuh- | čitáʾAt. |
| They got | the best of them. |
| nootiinuuwáʾAx. |
| Then they ran off. |
| tsu | áxkUx | nooWIšitiinawíhAt | WIšitistaakaruuwaáhAt | WIšitiituuníkUt. |
| But | one | then they headed him off, | they surrounded him, | they caught him. |
| nooWIšitiisiráxAt. |
| Then they took him. |
| WIšitiitawaáhUt. |
| They held him. |
| witihwačiʾaáhuʾ | na | tičé šiNAsiNAhuunúxtA | tinaaríčI. |
| They were saying: | "And | what are we going to do with him | this one? |
| šikanaasihkoótIt. |
| We will not kill him. |
| šiisiisuxtawitareewaápI | aniNAhaápI | a | xás | kUšiniškoótIt. |
| Let's tie him up to it | that tree | and | mosquitoes | let them kill him!" |
| uu | kanawituuNUxteešawíhAx | – | xás | – | aninaawiriítU. |
| Oh, | there were hordes of them | – | mosquitoes | – | that summer. |
| nikunootIsá | nooWIšitistareewaápI. |
| Then that is what they did: | then they tied him to it. |
| WIšitiitIštsareewáapI– | hawá– | Axtaaníniʾ | tiiháʾ | čituúʾuʾ. |
| They tied his hands,– | also– | the feet | here | all. |
| WIši- | tistawitareewaápI | NAhaápI. |
| They | tied his body to it | a tree. |
| anuú | nootiraáNAt. |
| There | then they went. |
| wah | hánuʾ. |
| "Now | go on! |
| šikooxehkoótIt | xás. |
| They will kill him | mosquitoes." |
| nootuutaánuʾ | – | nootiraáNAt. |
| Then they were doing it: | – | then they went |
| – | wešiniiNAh- | naáxIt | wešiniitAhniraanátA | – | sanánat. |
| – | Now they chased | them | as they pursued them | – | Sioux. |
| nuu | – | číkuʾ niikohniíhiʾ | šitiitakunaawísAt | sanánat. |
| There | – | wherever it was | they caught up with them | the Sioux. |
| štoh | nootiRAxUhuúna | nuu | NAhkukoohaahkAhunuu- | waáWI. |
| Again | then there was a fight | there | where they were going | about on the prairie. |
| nootihkawoótIt | na | tiiNAhnaa- | húnoʾ. |
| Then they killed them | and | they scalped | them. |
| pAxIskuúxuʾ | noowewitinaaNIsaawíra. |
| Scalps | then they were waving them on poles. |
| wah | číkuʾ niikohnuxtaáNAt– | noowitiraačeéʾA | – | Ahnuxu- |
| Now | wherever they went– | then it was a long time | – | their |
| nuuwaáWI | nuu | skaweéraaʾuʾ. |
| going around | there | (in) the west. |
| na | noowitiwaákoʾ | wah | toxtaakaaʾišwóʾ. |
| And | then he said: | "Now | let's go home!" |
| xaawaarúxtiʾ | – | nikuwitištaʾuutíšWA | – | a | číkuʾ noošikaakiNAhnáNAt. |
| Horses | – | those are what they had gone to steal | – | and | then they did not take any of them. |
| nooteeRAhkaaʾiíšaʾ. |
| Then they came home. |
| anuú | wehnaraána | áxkUx | noowitiwaákoʾ | wiítA | čeétoʾ itaraápoʾ |
| There | as they were coming | one | then he said | man: | "Let's go there |
| sanánat | – | paatúh | šiNAsiisuxtawitareewaapíhA. |
| the Sioux | – | enemy | where we tied him up to it." |
| nawáh. |
| "Fine." |
| nootiraáNAt. |
| Then they went. |
| nuuweNAhkUxUhuuwiraátA | taanikutií- | hiʾ | noowitiRAhčeswaátAt. |
| As they were running there, | "This is the | place," | then they got out of the brush. |
| noowiteéRIt. |
| There he stood. |
| noowitUtkostákUx. |
| The dead body hung there. |
| noowitiiskA- | huukásIt | wešohnehtskaruuwátI |
| His face was | pale white (pallid) | after they had taken the liquid out of him |
| xás | – | paátuʾ. |
| mosquitoes | – | blood. |
| noo | – | tákuʾ | – | iiNAhuhwaáWI | – | nii- | ʾaNAhaápI | – |
| Then | – | anyone | – | where the grass grew | – | where | the tree was | – |
| tákuʾ NAhkUhuhkaʾiišátA | – | noowiteštaNAh- | pAhaáta. |
| when anyone went into the grass | – | then his feet | became all red. |
| xás | – | weNAhkukaawačiitaáNA | – | nootaah- | kót |
| A mosquito | – | when it became full | – | then it | would die |
| iinakataahwaáWI | na | – | noowitíʾ | – | paátuʾ | xás |
| where the grass grew, | and | – | there it was | – | blood, | mosquitoes |
| wešohnihtskaruuwátI | paátuʾ. |
| after they had taken liquid from him | blood. |
| noowi- | tuxtaaNIhuúʾU | naáNIt | xás | aninaawiriítU. |
| There | were many | really | mosquitoes | that summer. |
| noowitUtkostákUx. |
| There his body was hanging. |
| nooWIšitinoóʾa | a | číkuʾ nooWIšitihkaʾús. |
| Then they took it off | and | then they laid him in the brush. |
| wah | nikunoowituutAxítIt | nootiRAhkaaʾiíšAt | nuu | iiʾAhnatoxtaakítAt. |
| Now | then that is what happened: | then they went home | there | where our village was. |
| nootiRAhwísat. |
| Then they arrived. |
| nootiinaaʾít | taanikuwetuutAxítIt. |
| Then they told of it: | "This is what happened. |
| xás | šitihkoótIt | sanánat. |
| Mosquitoes | they killed him | a Sioux. |
| taanikutatuhnaáka | šineetUstawi- | tareewaápI | niiNAhaápI. |
| This is what we did: | we tied him | to it | where a tree was. |
| xás | kananiiraaNIhuúʾU. |
| Mosquitoes | there were many! |
| šitehnitskaruuwaáWAt | paátuʾ. |
| They must have drained all the liquid | blood. |
| niiwenatinaah- | naána | – | na | – | nooNUtkostákUx. |
| When we came | there | – | and | – | the body was hanging there. |
| nootiihuukásIt. |
| He was pallid all over. |
| čituúʾuʾ | paátuʾ | tehnitskaruuwaáWAt. |
| All | blood | they must have extracted it. |
| na | tákuʾ tuuxuh- | kaʾuúkUt | iiNAhuhwaáWI |
| And | when anyone | went in the grass | where the grass grew |
| nooteštaNAh- | pAhaáta |
| then his feet got all | red." |
| xás. |
| Mosquitoes |
| – | wehnakawoótIt | – | číkuʾ nuukuwitiihihtAhwíʾAt | xás |
| – | where they died | – | there was a deep layer of them | mosquitoes. |
| taanikuWIšitiNAhuúnuʾ | sanánat. |
| This is what they did to him | a Sioux. |
| taanikunootiiraáʾAt. |
| This is the end (of the story). |