kwus hwiwul tu kw’a’luhw | Getting Ready for the Dog Salmon

This is a story written by wuhaluputhut | Paddy Aleck from Stz’uminus with help from pul-qwuletse’ | Wayne Charlie and sp’aqw’um’ultunat | Donna Gerdts for our new stories project in February 2026. Thanks to Wayne Charlie for the Hul’q’umi’num’ recording.

kwus hwiwul tu kw’a’luhw | Getting Ready for the Dog Salmon

by Paddy Aleck & translated by Wayne Charlie

  1. ’een’thu wuhaluputhut ’uw’ tun’ni’ ’utl’ shts’um’inus.
    I’m Paddy Aleck from Stz’uminus.
  2. nu sqwul’qwul’ nilh kwutst ’aluxut kw’ kw’a’luhw tun’ni’ yu shhwunum’ tst kwutst yu kwen’nuhw tu stseelhtun kwutst yu ts’its’usum’.
    I’m going to talk about harvesting dog salmon when they were migrating, when we caught the salmon when we were growing up.
  3. mukw’ sil’anum kwunus hwun’ ts’its’usum’ ’i’ ni’ tst tul’nuhw tu lhqelts’ ’u kwus wulh tus ’u kw’ hwisulenuhw ’i’ tu tum’kw’a’luhw ’i’ wulh wil’ tu syaays tst.
    Every year when I was young, we knew it was the months of October and November was when we would do our work.
  4. nilhulh kwey’ lhqelts’ ’i’ tst ti’ti’ya’xw ’aluxut tu kw’a’luhw tahw ’uw’ yu hwiwul ’u tu sta’luw’ tst.
    During those months, we got busy and harvested the dog salmon as they came up our rivers.
  5. kwutst hwun’ ’uhwiin’ ’i’ ni’ tst ’uw’ ’iyus ’ul’ kwutst tsukwul’ul’qum’ ’u tu shhwuw’weli tst.
    When we were growing up, we simply did the work we were told to do.
  6. ’i’ thu’it thimat syaays hwunum’ ’u tu ts’lhhwulmuhw tst.
    And it was really important work for our Coast Salish people.
  7. kwutst yu ts’its’usum’ ’i’ ni’ tst ’uw’ yu hays ’ul’ ’uw’ huy’thusta’lum’ tu sul’uthut-s
    When we were growing up, we were not allowed to say no to what we were told to do.
  8. skw’ey kwutst ptem’ ’uw’ nutsim’us, skw’ey kwutst ’uwu kwu ni’ syaaysstaalt.
    We were not allowed to ask why, and we were not allowed to say no to the work we were given.
  9. kwus wulh hwiwul tu stseelhtun ’i’ ni’ tst nem’ tuy’ti’qul’ hunum’ ’u tu statluw’.
    When the dog salmon began to run, we traveled around going to certain creeks.
  10. nuts’a’ ni’ shhwunum’ tst ’uw’ stutes ’u tu ’uw’ s’aa’lh lelum’ kwutst yu ts’its’usum’ tl’uw’ hun’utum’ Ivy Green Park, kwi’kwum’luhw.
    One of the places close to home where I grew up is now called Ivy Green Park.
  11. nilh shni’sulh kwus yu q’ulum’s tu siiy’eyu tst, nilh kwu’elh ’uye’q nilh kwu lelum’s tu hiwa’qws ’i’ tu swe’s ts’uwtuns.
    It used to be a campsite, but now the band office is located in that area.
  12. ni’ tst yu hunum’ ’u tu statluw’ ’a’luxut tu kw’a’luhw, stul’atluw’.
    We used to go into the little creek to catch the dog salmon, in the creeks.
  13. kwutst yu ts’its’usum’ ’i’ ’uw’ yu huy’thusta’lum’, “yath tseep ’uw’ xwexwe’ hwunem’ut niit syaays.”
    When we were growing up, we were always told, “You have to be very quick when you are doing this work.” [because the fish are very fast]
  14. lhnimulh kwu’elh ni’ we’wulthut tu kw’a’luhw ’i’ ni’ wulh ’a’mutstun’ tu s’ul’eluhw tst ’i’ thuythut kws yu ’a’kw’ut-s tu kw’a’luhw.
    We had to chase the fish toward the older people so they could catch them.
  15. nilh syaaysstaalt, kwutst yu ts’ets’uw’utun’ ’u kwus tus ni’ ’aluxutum stseelhtun.
    That was our job, and that was how we helped with the harvest.
  16. qul’et nuts’a’ ni’ yu shhwunum’ tst, nilh kwu’elh tu xulel’t-hw, sta’luw’ ni’ shhwunum’ tst, silaqwa’ulh.
    Another place we went was Westholme (Halalt), we’d go to the Chemainus River (silaqwa’ulh).
  17. ni’ tst yu hunum’ ’u tu sta’luw’ ’i’ ni’ wewul’thut tu stseelhtun, kwus wulh hwiwul tu stseelhtun.
    We would go to the river there and the salmon would be arriving, coming upriver.
  18. qul’et nuts’a’ ni’ shhwunum’ tst nuw’ stutes ’utl’ mutouliye’ hwtsetl’um’ulhp, tthu ni’ hun’utum’ Goldstream River and Provincial Park.
    Another place we traveled to was close to Victoria, Goldstream River and Provincial Park hwtsetl’um’ulhp.
  19. nilh kwu’elh ni’ hwu saay’s kwus wulh tum’xuy’tl’, yu ’a’luxut tu stseelhtun ’i’ ts’uy’hw tu stseelhtun.
    This was how we got ready for the winter, catching and drying the salmon.
  20. nilh lhihwmat ni’ shhwunum’ tst kwutst ’aluxut tu stseelhtun: kwi’kwum’luxw Ivy Green Park, xulel’t-hw Westholme ’i’ hwtsetl’um’ulhp Goldstream River and Provincial Park.
    These are the three places I remember: Ivy Green Park, Westholme, and Goldstream River and Provincial Park.
  21. nilh kwu’elh tuni’ nu sqwul’qwul’ ’u tun’a kweyul kwutst yu thuythut kwutst ’aluxut tu stseelhtun ni’ kwthu q’i’lew’t-hw tst.
    This is my story today about when we harvested salmon and prepared them for the smokehouse.
  22. nilh kwu’elh nu sqwul’qwul’ ’u tun’a kweyul.
    This is what I’m going to say about this today.
  23. huy tseep q’u kwus ’uw’ hwiiyunum’utham’sh.
    Thank you for listening to me.
  24. ni’ kwu’elh hay.
    The End.