Peel away by layers, husk (corn). Y pačáƛ̓aaka apɨ́x̣ ‘they peeled off the skin’ (Jacobs 1937:11.9.3, pg. 19); ku áčaƛ̓aaka támaš Spilyáy ‘and Coyote pulled out the roast’ (Jacobs 1937:31.41.3, pg. 79). [Cf. Y ƛ̓áak ‘dig up, dig out of hole, remove layer’; iƛ̓áakša níč ‘she’s digging up the (underground) cache’.]
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).
