I. An Arapaho Story: The Gathering of Nations/Heetoh’oo’eiseet 3owo3nenitee (10 sentences)

(This story was written in English by a student at Wyoming Indian High School, and translated into Arapaho by her teacher Richard Moss, a native speaker of the language. It was published in the Bear Singer yearbook of WIHS. Small corrections in the spelling of the Arapaho have been made by Dr. Andrew Cowell of University of Colorado. Changes in the original English are in brackets.)

1. teecxo’ hee’ineeyoo’ nih’iitoh’oo’eisee3i’ 3owo3neniteeno’,

there is a special place where all Native American Tribes gathered many, many years ago,

2. hoo3oo’o’ hiiteeno’ he’ih’iiniito’eibetino’.

where some Tribes used to make peace with each other.

3. hoo3oo’o’ ce’esneniteeno’ nih’iini’i3ecooto’ohkoni’

But other Tribes would to to this place for the enjoyment of it,

4. noh neniteeno’ he’ih’iiceitoonetino’ tohuuciinooo3noohobeti3i’.

and to visit the people they had met in past years.

5. howoo he’ih’iiceecebiihetino’.

there the people would also take part in tribal games for entertainment.

6. hii3eti’ tih’iibe(i)nohco’ootou’u betooot wo’ei3 cebiihetiitono.

the best part of the trip was to participate or watch the pow-wow [or games]...

7. hiiwoonhehe’ “heetoh’oo’eiseet 3owo3nenitee” nee’eesih’iinoo’.

Today, this place is called, “The Gathering of the Nations.”

8. hoono’ut heesce’eseiht 3owo3nenitee netiixoohoo3i3ei’it heesoo’ hitiine’etiitooninoo,

All Native American Tribes within the US go and share together their traditional values,

9. howoo heeneesiixoneet noh hiniito’eibetiit.

traditional foods, and friendship with each other.

10. noh nuhu’ nee’ehniiseti’ heebe3ibetooot noh hoo’eixoot.

This pow-wow is one of the largest pow-wow[s] in the United States.

Notes:

3. ce’es-nenitee-no’ means ‘different people(s)’ and is here used to mean ‘Tribe.’

3. ni’i3ecoot- is a TI form meaning ‘to enjoy something.’ The 3p form ends with -ou’u, which

in the subjunctive is apparently -o’-ohkoni’ based on TI 3s -o’.

8. hees-ce’eseihi-t nenitee = ‘what/how-different people’ = ‘various Tribes.’

8. hiixoohoo3ih- is a TA verb meaning ‘to show, instruct.’ The form hiixoohoo3i3ei- is a secondary AI verb meaning ‘to show or instruct people in something.’ The correct prefix is perhaps ne’=hiix...

10. the construction noh... nee’eh-niiseti’.... noh... is not otherwise documented in Arapaho.

10. hoo’eixoot is a participle derived from hoo’eisee- = ‘come together’. It means ‘the act of coming together,’ and is used here for ‘United States.’