Stick to, cling. miyánaš iwáč̓aakša pčapmípa ‘the child is clinging on its mother’; yáč̓pšnɨmš iwáč̓aaka ‘a tick got on me’; ipápawač̓aakšana ‘they were kissing each other’; ku ƛ̓áax̣ʷ ana kʷná iwíwac̓aakša čúuš wánayaw nč̓íyaw kuna kʷná wá naamí tkʷátat ‘and all where each stream is joining to the Columbia River there our food is’; poxpoxnimá Wáč̓aaktpa ‘confluence of Powder and Snake Rivers’.
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).
