[SPEAKING TOHONO O'ODHAM] Poetry Center.
[SPEAKING TOHONO O'ODHAM] Gail Browne, Renee.
[SPEAKING TOHONO O'ODHAM] Sherwin.
Alberto [SPEAKING TOHONO O'ODHAM].
So it's my pleasure to be here, again,
in this wonderful facility.
I'm always happy to have the opportunity
to share my work here.
And I'm always happy to know that this place is
available for all languages.
And so this is a wonderful project to be involved with.
I'm going to read my translation of the two works
that I was assigned.
And since you just heard Sherwin's piece,
the one he started out with, when I looked at it,
the first thing I thought of I read through--
what's the O'odham word for obsidian?
[LAUGHTER]
Run to the dictionary, there's no word for obsidian.
[LAUGHTER]
And the way language is, you can make a word.
And so that was my first trial.
[LAUGHS]
And normally-- because I'm over in the linguistics department,
I have different--
I've had different experiences with doing translation works.
I know there's translation work that must work a certain way.
But this one was, of course, different
from that type of work.
And so I know the difference.
And so this was enjoyable and, of course,
challenging in its own way.
So this one's Sherwin's piece, in O'odham.
Jewed T-Je'e
Ha-je’e ’am ha’icu cegĭto: We:peg ’att o wo:p, ’amjeḍ o hihi.
K hab ha-kakk’e, “Nac na:nko kaij mac heg ‘eḍa hema ñi’okĭ ñeñok?”
Nopi pi ’amhu ha’icu ’apecud t heg hekaj hab ’e-ju: ’i:da.
Huḍnig, si’alig, we:s ha’icu ‘am ṣa:gid ‘o ḍ paḍ ha’icu. Ma:sig ‘eḍ,
s-ko’ok g ta:tamij, Pa:la ‘o pi mu’uk ‘am taṣ tonlig ‘eḍ
We:sijc ‘am wakt k g meihi ’am ma’iṣpio ’am komel meḍadam ’akimel ’eḍ
Heg hab masma hab e-elid:
“Ge’e pi ’ap cu’ig”
Pi ’o hab ’a:g mat o ñe’ed ’id ’eda ñi’okĭ ’eḍ
nopi ’id ’eḍa ki: pi ’anhu ha’icug g kanjul,
pi g ’anhu ga:g g s-ke:g s-cuk hodai gahu o si ko:mcud e-hohonma ba:ṣo.
ṣo:ṣon— duakag.
Does it sound familiar?
[LAUGHTER]