Hello my name is Damon. I am an enrolled member of the Karuk tribe of Original Peoples in Northern California. Original Peoples or Native Americans have been fast losing thier distinct identities. Our Native traditions are often mixed and matched among other tribal nations. The U.S. Government recognizes 568 Native American nations. Any reservation is considered a sovereign nation, and is not always subject to U.S. Law. All Natives are U.S. citizens holding dual citizenship. These nations along with the 300+ from canada,Alaska,and the Atlantic Islands all are made up of individual tribes,or can be a confederation of tribes. The Karuks belong to such a confederation. The Confederated Tribes Siskyou Natives. Other tribes with memberships include The Modoc tribe and the Yurok tribe. In the past Karuks were some times called Karok or Karoc, this is wrong we are Karuk. The Karuks also maintain an office on tribal lands of thier own, and have purchased much of the traditonal lands back. Kind of an independent entity within the confederation. I am also part Choctaw and Creek as well as Karuk. Over the Years the Karuk tribe has all but been assimilated into American culture very little of or own practices still exsist today, although much has been preserved in museums and accounts, much more has been lost. So little of our traditions are actually still practiced. I created this page to preserve the one thing I feel in most danger of extinction, that being the Language of the Karuk. So many others have already faded even now only 469 conversational words and phrases are remembered plus 117 geographical locations. 586 words are all that remains of my peoples language and this saddens me. But it also harkens me to action to preserve it. Although the English language has just over a million words and 300,000 technical terms few people exercise a vocabulary of more then 2000 words. When you consider the double meaning words and more then one word for the same meaning. A vocabulary of 586 is not a bad vocabulary. If you learn your Karuk as I intend to teach you, you can certainly maintain a spoken conversation in fluency with out trouble. In other words yes enough remains of Karuk to keep it a legitimate language. I would like to thank my sister Stormy for all her help in creating this page. That ends my introduction. So lets begin.
Beginners chit chat!!
Hello .............Ayukii
how are you?.......Huut Kich?
Just Fine..........Vura yav
And You?...........Karu iim hum huut
very good .........yeeshiip
I haven't seen you
in a long time.....if xara xas tanupmah
Where are you
coming from?.......Hooy i'aramsiiprivti?
or
Hooy ti'aramsiip?
I am coming from
orleans............Panamniik
ni'aramprivti
or
panamniik ni'aramsiik
How are the roads?.Huut kich peempaah?
How's the river?...Huut kich peeshkeesh
[The River]
looks..............Vura yaamach
good...............[peeshkeesh]
Yav vur umusahahiti peeshkeesh
The River is
dirty..............Axvithirar peeshkeesh
The river is
rising.............Peeshkeesh tu `uh
The river is
drying up.........Peeshkeesh tupivaxrah
Is it going to
rain?.............Upathriheesh hum?
Its just about
to rain..........Chi upathriheesh
Its going to be
hot later........kumateechvanihich imachaxheesh.
What are you
folks doing?.....Faat kukupaveenahiti?
Nothing..........Vura purafaat
Vura purafaatxay(with emphasis)
What did you
say?.............Huut ipiti?
What do you
know?...........Faat i'aapunmuti?
or
Faatkich I'aapunmuti
What is your
name?...........Huut ithvuuyti?
My name is
________........Nanithvuy uum _______?
Who are your
relatives?.....Akaay mi araaras?
or
Akaay pami' araaras?
How is your
mother?.......Huut kich mitaat?
or
Huut kich pamitaat?
How is your
father?......Huut kich mi akah?
or
Huut kich pami akah?
Where are
you going?...Hooy tivaaram?
or
hooy kich ivaarameesh?
Im going
somewhere...Fataakva tanivaaram
Im going to new
orleans.....Panamniik nivaaram
What time is
it?.........Ifyaa tu' uum?
I'll see you
again.......Suva nik nupmaheesh.
See you later
today.......Kumateechvanihich nik nupmaheesh.
Goodbye.....Chimi kuyaapku
or
Chimi(bye)
yes.........haa
no..........Puuhara
Maybe.......Ikiich
thank you...Yootva
thats good..Vaa yav
or
vura yav
good........yav
ok..........chimi
alright.....Chimi man
Perhaps.....Atafaat
It doesnt
matter.....Huun ata
see you
later......suva nik
later
today......suva nik mateevanihich
some other time
in the
future.....suva nik harixay.
see you
tomorrow...suva nik iaan
Do you
understand?..Tithitiv hum vura?
Do you
know?........i'aapunmuti hum?
or
I'aapunmuti hum vura nik?
I understand..Ni'aapunmuti vura
I dont
understand...Puna' aapunmutihan vura
I dont
know........Naa puna aapunmutihan
or
Man ata
What did you
say?........Huut ipiti
again.......Pay kich
say it
again......Pay kich piipi
Did you
forget?....Tipipshiinvarihvaheen hum(past)
or
Tipipshiinvarihva hum(recently)
Speak
slowly.....Kacha iich vura chuuphi
[Chaka iimich vura chuuphi]
What is your
name?......Huut iim ithvuuyti?
How are
you........Huut kich?
I like
grapes.....Aay nitapkuuputi