1890’s ladies’ diet advice in Chinuk Wawa

WW19CCTYTD? (What would a 19th-century celibate tell you to do?)

“Mgr. Kneipp‘s Hygienic Instructions”

ALTA KOPA KLUCHMIN, PUS WIK SAIA
Now, for the lady, when it’s almost time 

IAKA TLAP IAKA TANAS.
for her to have her baby.

<1.> Ikta iaka makmak.
What she should eat.

     Pus wik iaka drit msaika makmak, wik kata
If her food isn’t right, there’s no way

pus chako skukum msaika tanas.
that her child will grow strong.

     Pus iaka drit msaika makmak, chako drit aias
If her food is right,

tlus msaika pilpil, pi iaka klatwa kopa msaika
you folks’ blood gets really excellent, and it goes to your

tanas pus mamuk drit skukum iaka.
baby to really strengthen it.

     Pus wik iaka drit msaika makmak, msaika pilpil
If you folks’ diet isn’t right, your blood

chako ilo skukum. Kakwa sitkom chok iaka, pi
gets weak. It will be like it’s half water, and then

wik kata msaika tanas chako skukum.
your child can’t grow strong.

—

     Hwit <“wheat”> iaka ilip kopa kanawi makmak.
Wheat is the the first of all foods.  

     Tkop man klaska cipi: klaska mash sitkom
     The white people are wrong: they throw away half

ukuk hwit, pi klaska iskom sitkom; klaska
of the wheat, and they (only) pick half: they

tiki pus drit tikop klaska saplil, kakwa klaska
want their bread to be really white, so they

mash ukuk hwit iaka skin, klaska mamuk nim
toss the outside of the wheat, which is called

bran <“bran”>.
bran.

     Iaka ukuk bran, mamuk skukum msaika.
This bran is what strengthens you folks.  

     ST iaka mamuk ukuk hwit pus nsaika makmak,
     God made the wheat for us to eat,

iaka mamuk iaka bran kanamokst, ilo iaka wawa
he made its bran together with it, he didn’t say

pus nsaika iskom sitkom pi nsaika mash sitkom.
that we should take half and we should toss half.

     Tilikom iskom ukuk hwit iaka saplil pus
People choose this wheat bread for

klaska makmak, pi klaska mash iaka bran kopa
their food, and they throw its bran to

kosho, klaska cipi.
the pigs, they’re making a mistake.

     Ilip tlus klaska mash ukuk tkop saplil kopa
     It would be better for them to throw that white bread to

kosho pi klaska iskom bran pus klaska makmak.
the pigs and take the bran for their food.

     Tikop saplil, ilo bran, wik kata mamuk skukum
White bread without bran can’t strengthen

msaika. Tkop saplil kanamokst iaka bran, iaka
you folks.  White bread with its bran

mamuk drit skukum msaika. Tlus msaika komtaks
will make you really strong.  You should know

ukuk.
about this.

     Pus msaika iskom tkop saplil kopa makuk haws,
     If you choose white bread from the store,

tlus wiht msaika iskom bran; mamuk klaska
you should also get bran; mix them

kanamokst pus mamuk kuk saplil, pus mamuk
together to bake bread, to make

lagalit, pus mamuk kanawi ikta makmak msaika
bannock, to make any kind of food you

tiki.
want.

     Klunas msaika ihi.
You may laugh.

     Tlus wik msaika ihi: ilo kaltash wawa
Don’t laugh:

ukuk. Pus wik msaika mamuk nawitka, tlus
this is no idle chitchat.  If you don’t believe it,

msaika trai ukuk; pus tanas lili msaika trai
try it; if you try

ukuk, wik kansih alki msaika mash.
this out for a while, you’ll never leave it.

—

     Iht tlus wiht makmak.
One other good food.

     Iskom saplil < “flour”> kanamokst iaka bran,
Take some flour with its bran,

mamuk rost < “roast”> ukuk kopa fraing pan,
roast it in a frying pan,

< “frying pan”> kakwa msaika rost kofi.
like you roast coffee beans.

     Pus iaka tanas tlil kopa paia, iaka tlus alta
When it’s somewhat dark from the flame, it’s good now

pus mamuk lasup. Mamuk liplip kopa chok,
for making soup.  Boil it in water,

mamuk lasup: ukuk lasup alki mamuk drit
make soup: this soup will make

skukum msaika.
you very strong.

—

     Ilo makmak ayu mawich, musmus pi kanawi
Don’t eat much venison, beef or any

ikta itluil.
kind of flesh.  

     Mawich iaka tlus, musmus iaka tlus, pi
Venison is all right, beef is all right, but

pus msaika makmak ayu, chako aias wam msaika
if you eat a lot of it, your

pilpil, pi msaika aiak tlap sik.
blood gets hot, and you easily get sick.  

     Pus msaika makmak mawich, musmus, ItS
     If you eat venison, beef, etc.

kopa sitkom son, aias tlus. Wik kansih
in the middle of the day, that’s perfectly fine.  Don’t ever

makmak kanawi ikta itluil kopa pulakli.
eat any kind of meat at night.  

—

     Ilo makmak pipir < “pepper”> myustard < “mustard”>
Don’t eat pepper, mustard,

pikls < “pickles”>, vinigar < “vinegar”>: ukuk
pickles, or vinegar: these

iktas mamuk chako paia msaika itluil, pi mamuk
things make your body burn, and make

chako kaltash msaika pilpil.
your blood turn bad.  

     Ilo makmak ayu solt: tanas solt, aias
Don’t eat much salt: a little salt is perfectly

tlus; ayu solt mamuk paia msaika kwatin.
good; a lot of salt burns your stomach.  

—

 

 

     Milk iaka tlus; iskom kuk saplil, <bread>,
Milk is good; take some baked bread,

mamuk kopa milk pus chako patl milk, pi makmak.
put it in some milk so it gets full of milk, and eat it.  

     Pus wik msaika tlap milk, iskom bran, pi
If you can’t find milk, take some bran, and

mamuk liplip kopa chok, pus mamuk bran ti, mash
boil it in water, to make bran tea, put

tanas shugir kanamokst. Iskom kuk saplil
a bit of sugar in with it.  Take some baked bread

mamuk chako patl kopa ukuk ti, pi makmak, pi iaka
and soak it full of this tea, and eat it, and it

mamuk skukum msaika.
will make you stronger.

—

     Tlus nanich wik msaika drit ayu makmak.
Take care not to eat very much.  

     Pus msaika makmak ayu, msaika chako aias
     If you eat a lot, you will get very

til, pi wik tlus. Wik tlus pus msaika makmak
tired, and unhealthy.  It’s no good if you eat

pi chako drit kopit olo, tlus msaika wiht
until the hunger ends, you should still

tanas olo pi msaika kopit makmak.
be a little hungry when you finish eating.

—

     Msaika komtaks: wiski, brandi ItS, kakwa
     You know, whiskey, brandy etc., are like

paia, iaka mamuk paia msaika itluil. Klaksta
fire, they burn your body.  Any

kluchmin makmak ukuk iaka mamuk mimlus iaka
women who drinks these is killing her

itluil, pi wiht iaka mamuk mimlus iaka tanas iaka
flesh, and she is also killing her child’s

itluil.
flesh.

     Kofi, ti, chokolat, wik tlus: kakwa poison
Coffee, tea, and chocolate are no good: they’re like poison,

kanawi ukuk.
all of these.  

—

     Mamuk hwit kofi pi barli < “barley”> kofi.
Make wheat coffee and barley coffee.  

     Iskom hwit iskom barli, mamuk rost kakwa kofi
     Take some wheat, take some barley, roast it like coffee beans,

mamuk ilihi kakwa kofi, pi mamuk kakwa kofi kopa ukuk.
grind it like coffee, and make a sort of coffee from it.

Ilo aias makuk ukuk kofi.
This kind of coffee is not expensive.

—

     Pus msaika mamuk sup kakwa naika siisim iakwa,
If you make soup as I’ve said here, 

wik msaika chako drai, wik msaika tiki ti, kofi
you won’t get thirsty, you won’t want tea, coffee,

pi kanawi ukuk kaltash makmak.
and all kinds of worthless food.

     Pus msaika chako drai, makmak tanas chok
     If you get thirsty, drink a little water,

ilo makmak ayu.
don’t drink much.

—

     Pus kanawi kluchmin mamuk kakwa, klaska chako
     If every woman does like this, they will get

skukum, pi klaska tlus tomtom, wiht wik
stronger, and they’ll be happy, also

klaska mash klaska chikmin kopa kaltash makmak
they won’t be spending their money on worthless foods

mitlait kopa makuk haws: ukuk mamuk sik tilikom
that are in the store: those make people sick

pi mamuk chako kopit klaska chikmin.
and waste their money.

— from Kamloops Wawa #129 (June 1895) page 88