Biscuit root, Canby’s desert parsley, Lomatium canbyi. Used in making sapk̓ísa. A special Priest Rapids variety called škúlkul. ixawíša lúukš ‘the biscuit root is mature’; ku lúukš ittáwax̣ɨnx̣a ana kú x̣áwš ‘biscuit root grows when the cous (does)’; luukšmí hahán áwa ana kúuš tún yáč̓pš ‘the biscuit root’s top is like some ticks’ (they look like they’re covered with ticks); itamánwiyayiyana pyax̣í, x̣áwš, lúukš, tmɨ́š, wíwnu ku núsux ku yáamaš ‘he ordained the bitterroot, cous, biscuit root, chokecherries, huckleberries and salmon and deer for us’; pyax̣í x̣áwš lúukš ku tmɨ́š ku wíwnu pawá páx̣naw ƛ̓áksma ku kʷná áwa pyáp čúuš ‘bitterroot, cous, biscuit root and chokecherry and huckleberry are the five sisters and there is their brother the water’; ku kʷaaná pátwanimta náx̣šin ɨsípin ana k̓ʷapɨ́n iwá waníči lúukš ‘and another younger sister who is named luuksh will come following her [the cous]’; iwiyáˀuyix̣a pyax̣í ku íkʷɨ́n x̣áwš ittáwax̣ɨnx̣a ku lúukš ittáwax̣ɨnx̣a ana kú x̣áwš ‘the bitterroot comes first and to that cous grows and biscuit root grows when the cous (grows)’. [PR lamɨ́š ~ lamúš; NW & Priest Rapids variously sikáwya; sikáywa; NP qeqíit /qqíyit/.]
As spoken by a group of elders in the early 1980s when thinking about putting their language to writing.
The words and sentences in this dictionary are mostly the contribution of Twáway, otherwise known of as Inez Spino Reves. Twáway has never flinched from working with linguists, and her command of the “old language” with all its intricacies of grammar and vocabulary is second to none. Other Umatilla contributors are Charley McKay, Donald Joe, Emily Littlefish, Fred Hill, Joan Watlamet, Mildred Quaempts, and Thomas Morning Owl. Animal and plant identifications were much aided by botanist Dave Corliss (personal communication) and by Eugene Hunn (1979, 1990).
