Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Khouse Eaters . . .

Khouse eaters . . .

Nimi'ipuu, before they acquired horses
..
called themselves Cuupn'tpel'uu
….. people who walked...
…… out of the woods and mountains

Neighboring bands, Tukuaidika and Agaidika,

.. called them "eaters-of-kouse"
….. and "those-who-live-under-tules".
....……
Shoshokie were "eaters-of-roots" too.

Lomatium couse grows abundantly
.. along canyon walls and in biscuit scabland
… . throughout Wallowa country,
… …. comprising a staple crop.

Khouse keeps abundant crop company,
.. camas, yampahs, onions and lilies,
….... a veritable grocery store
…….... for those with a stick and knowledge.

Staple crops, annual gathering rounds,
.. game and fish in season and abundance,
…… left "the people" time for enculturation,
.......... a rich heritage of tradition and practice.

Today, we reach, curious and hungry,
... for those stories lurking in their holes,
…..... waiting for the day when "the people"
……..... may invite them to live, again

--r.anderson





Some notes: in this one... the reference to "the neighbors..."
... the first simply means "sheep-eaters" and the second means "salmon eaters"
..... in the Uto-aztecan language of the shoshone....
... "Shoshokie..." is the shoshone term for root eaters
.... often used to refer to what we now call piautes (or Numu)...

... it is interesting to note that the genetics, language and relations
..... of piaute and shoshone are virtually the same...
...... and speakers of basque... can understand much of the language
...... and vice versa . . . .

perhaps you were already aware... the comanche were a band of shoshone
..... that traveled south out of the Wind Rivers... in about 1600... and grew
..... into the classic plains-bison-indians. R.A.

Sacajawea was of the Agaidika (Salmon Eaters) often called the Lemhi Shoshone