✨Pod Intro 0:00- 0:47

Welcome to Episode 4 of the Yurok Tribe Language Program’s “Yurok in 20!” Podcast! The purpose of this podcast is to provide a space for Yurok language learners to listen to elder audio, follow along with short lessons, practice speaking and listening to Yurok language, and touch upon Yurok culture as it relates to what we are learning. Each episode will be under 20 minutes, so please join us as you are cleaning, working out, or driving to work …and make sure to check the show notes to find more resources for the episodes!

Cho’ saa’-a-go-che’-moh! "Let’s speak Yurok together"

✨Episode 4 Intro 0:48-1:08

Here in Episode 4, you’ll listen to six short scenes in Yurok language. Can you follow along with the conversation? If you’re feeling a bit nervous, don’t worry, in Episodes 2 & 3 we learned some phrases about naming. If you haven’t listened to those yet, you might want to start there and then come back to Episode 4. 

✨Scene 1 1:09-1:26

Brit: Are you ready for Scene 1?
Victoria: Kues k’ew?

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara.

Did you catch that? Let’s add a little more.

✨Scene 2 1:27-1:40

Victoria: Kues k’ew?

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara.

Victoria: ‘Aiy-ye-kwee’, Barbara.

Barbara: Kues k’ew?

Victoria: Victoria, ‘new.

✨Scene 3 1:41-2:00

Victoria: Kues k’ew?

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara.

Victoria: ‘Aiy-ye-kwee’, Barbara.

Barbara: Kues k’ew?

Victoria: Victoria, ‘new.

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara. K’ew, Victoria.

Victoria: ‘New, Victoria. Barbara k’ew!

✨Scene 4 2:01-2:47

Victoria: Kues k’ew?

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara.

Victoria: ‘Aiy-ye-kwee’, Barbara.

Barbara: Kues k’ew?

Victoria: Victoria, ‘new.

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara. K’ew, Victoria.

Victoria: ‘New, Victoria. Barbara k’ew!

Barbara: Hehl ney, Victoria.

Victoria: Kues ‘wew?

Barbara: ‘Wew, Brittany. ‘New, Barbara. K’ew Victoria. ‘Wew, Brittany.

Brittany: Ney-en, Barbara. ‘New, Brittany. Kues ‘wew?

Barbara: Victoria, ‘wew.

Brittany: ‘New, Brittany. K’ew Barbara. ‘Wew, Victoria.

Barbara: ‘Eee, ney-en, Brittany. ‘New, Barbara. K’ew Brittany. ‘Wew, Victoria.

✨Scene 5 2:48-3:54

Victoria: Kues k’ew?

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara.

Victoria: ‘Aiy-ye-kwee’, Barbara.

Barbara: Kues k’ew?

Victoria: Victoria, ‘new.

Barbara: ‘New, Barbara. K’ew, Victoria.

Victoria: ‘New, Victoria. Barbara k’ew!

Barbara: Hehl ney, Victoria.

Victoria: Kues ‘wew?

Barbara: ‘Wew, Brittany. ‘New, Barbara. K’ew Victoria. ‘Wew, Brittany.

Brittany: Ney-en, Barbara. ‘New, Brittany. Kues ‘wew?

Barbara: Victoria, ‘wew.

Brittany: ‘New, Brittany. K’ew Barbara. ‘Wew, Victoria.

Barbara: ‘Eee, ney-en, Brittany. ‘New, Barbara. K’ew Brittany. ‘Wew, Victoria.

[cat noise]

Brittany: Kues ‘wew?

Barbara: Pue-see ‘wew.

Brittany: Oh! Pue-see ‘wew. ‘New, Brittany. K’ew Barbara. ‘Wew, Victoria. ‘Wew, pue-see.

Barbara: Skue-yen’.

✨Scene 6 3:55-4:21

Barbara: Kues k’ew?

Brittany: Brittany, ‘new.

Barbara: Kues ‘new?

Brittany: Barbara k’ew.

Barbara: [cat noise] Kues ‘wew?

Brittany: ‘Ey-lekw! Kues soo hey-go-lem’ “cat”?

Barbara: Pue-see ‘wew. Kues ‘wew? [cat noise]

Brittany: Pue-see ‘wew. 

✨Call & Response 4:22-5:21

Were you able to follow along with the conversation? If you found yourself a bit lost, everything we said in those six scenes can be learned in Episodes 2 & 3. Let’s move on. It’s time to see if you can respond in real time. When you hear this sound [respond tone], it’s your turn to speak.

Brittany: Kues k’ew? [tone] [long pause]

Can you ask me my name? [tone] [long pause] Brittany ‘new.

Kues ‘wew? [cat noise] [tone] [long pause] ‘Eee, pue-see ‘wew.

Skue-yen’. Nue-mee skue-yen’! I hope you enjoyed hearing a simple Yurok conversation and got some good practice in responding. 

✨Language Request 5:22-7:01

For the last half of this episode, we're gonna respond to another Yurok Language Request. These are questions submitted by real, Yurok language learners. Do you have a question about Yurok language? You can find the link to the Yurok Language Request Form in the show notes. Let’s get into it.

One learner asks, “Where can I hear a Yurok story?” Storytelling is very important for the Yurok people. Histories and cultural knowledge has always been shared orally. Yurok stories are usually shared family-to-family and can vary from one family, or village, to the next. In more recent years people have started to write down stories or record them. Each story has a purpose and some stories are meant to be shared over weeks, months, even years. The stories tell us how we came to be, how our world came to be, and how to treat one another. They reinforce Yurok Law and our worldview. Traditionally, it took time to build a relationship before an elder would share a story with you. Many of the stories that are taught today are portions of a much larger story. Our Cultural Coordinator, James Gensaw, is a really gifted storyteller. If you check the Yurok Language Calendar, you can find a time when he’ll be sharing some stories. We also have some stories that we’ve turned into e-books, or videos, on our website www.yuroklanguage.com. You can find a link to any resource mentioned in the show notes as well as the episode guide, also found on our website. We ask that anyone utilizing these resources do so in good faith and with good intentions. 

✨Episode Outro 7:02-7:46

Congratulations on finishing Village 1, House 1 in our Village Learning Pathway. To get more practice you can always use the Memrise app found in our show notes and on the website or revisit Episodes 2, 3, and 4. Next episode, we’ll be doing a little bit of a palate cleanser before we move on to Village 1, House 2. Join us as we sing some songs developed to help teach the Yurok language.

To’ kee tey-ge-rew! “We’ll talk (again)!”

[outro music]