The Book of Dreams (67 page)

Gentille
(French)—nice

Glas martre
(Old Irish)—green martyrdom

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
(Irish)—Thanks ever so much (literally “a good thousand to you”).

Grand-père est disparu.
(French)—Grandfather has disappeared.

Guru
(Hindi)—A Hindu or Sikh spiritual leader or teacher. While the term has taken on derogatory connotations in Western society, it is one of great respect in India. From the Sanskrit
guruh
, meaning “weighty.”

Hootchinoo
(Tlingit)—distilled liquor, shortened to “hooch” and now North American slang for liquor, particularly illegally distilled

Innunguaq
(Inuktitut)—This is the proper term for the human-shaped stone figures (
innunguait
, plural) most of us call
inuksuk
(
inuksuit
, plural).
Innunguaq
means “in the likeness of a human.” The
inuksuk
comes in many shapes. It means “acting in the capacity of a human,” e.g., as a navigational aid, marker to hunting grounds, indicator of food caches, doorway to the spiritual world.

Inummariit
(Inuktitut)—“the real people,” those who live on the land in the manner of their ancestors

Irlandais
(French)—Irish

Irlandaise! Magnifique! C’est un très beau pays, l’Irlande.
(French)—You’re Irish! Great! Ireland is a beautiful country.

Is scith mo chrob on scribainn.
(Old Irish)—My hand is weary with writing. (Found in the margin of an old manuscript, medieval monkish graffiti.)

J’ai peur.
(French)—I’m afraid.

Je comprends.
(French)—I understand.

Je m’excuse.
(French)—I’m sorry.

Je n’sais pas.
(French)—I don’t know (short for
je ne sais pas
).

Je pense
(French)—I think

Je suis ancien, pas invalide.
(French)—I’m an old man, not an invalid.

Je t’aime.
(French)—I love you.

Jongleur
(Canadian French)—Native medicine man/shaman
(sorcier indien).
Also used in the book is
jongleuse
—Native medicine woman/shaman
(sorcière indienne).

Klahanie
(Chinook jargon, a Native-based trade language used west of the Rockies and as far north as the Yukon)—the great outdoors

L’histoire
(French)—history, story

La chasse-galerie
(Canadian French)—Often directly translated into English as “witch canoe” or “spirit boat,” but this is incorrect.
La chasse-galerie
is the process of flying a canoe. One “runs
la chasse-galerie
”
(courir la chasse-galerie)
, but there is no direct translation for the term itself. The boat is
canot
or
canot d’écorce
.

La Pèlerine
(French)—the female pilgrim

Le Brûlé
(Canadian French)—“The burnt place.” Anglicized to the Brule. A patch of wasteland or swamp created by a forest fire.

Le canot
(French)—boat

Le Diable
(French)—the Devil

Le Diable, beau danseur
(French)—the Devil, a great dancer and handsome too

Le Nord
(French)—the North

Les fantômes
(French)—ghosts

Les lutins
(Canadian French)—goblins

Liber Monstrorum
(Latin)—
Book of Marvellous Creatures
. Probably written in England (they don’t know for sure) early seventh century, but maybe earlier.

Loup! Enfin! Ça va?
(French)—Wolf! At last! How are you?

Ma grand-mère
(French)—my grandmother

Magh Crí Mór
(Irish)—the Plain of the Great Heart

Maintenant
(French)—now

Mais non
(French)—of course not

Mais oui
(French)—(but) of course

Mais peut-être
(French)—but perhaps

Mal de raquette
(Canadian French)—leg strain caused by heavy snowshoeing

Man-i-tou
(Algonkian)—spirit of the land, sacred force

Mea culpa.
(Latin)—(It’s) my fault.

Merci beaucoup
(French)—thank you very much

Mo chara
(Irish)—my dear one, my friend

Mo stór
(Irish)—my treasure

Moi aussi.
(French)—Me too.

Mon ami
(French)—my friend

Mon amour
(French)—my love, beloved

Mon frère
(French)—my brother

Mon grand-père
(French)—my grandfather

Monsieur
(French)—mister

Mystère
(French)—mystery

N’est-ce pas?
(French)—Isn’t it? Another way of saying “eh?”

Na péistí. Ansin!
(Irish)—Sea monsters! Over there!

Naturellement.
(French)—Of course/naturally.

Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis
(Latin)—
The Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot
. Written in Latin around A.D. 800, it tells the story of the sixth-century Irish monk who set sail for the Island of Paradise on the other side of the ocean. It was a “best seller” in medieval Europe.

Nous risquons de vendre nos âmes au diable!
(Canadian French)—We risk selling our souls to the devil!

Nous sommes ici!
(French)—Here we are!

Nunatak
—Anglicized version of
nunataq
(Inuktitut)— an isolated peak of rock projecting above a surface of inland ice or snow.

Nunavut
(Inuktitut)—“our land.” Canada’s new territory, which officially came into being April 1, 1999.

Ogham
(Middle Irish)—ancient lettering of the Celtic peoples based on straight lines drawn perpendicular or at an angle to another (long) straight line. Usually found on stones or carved on wood. Related to the God Ogma, inventor of the alphabet.

Oíche Shamhna
(Irish)—Halloween

Omadhaun
(Irish)—anglicized version of
amadán,
meaning “fool.”

Oui
(French)—yes

Oui, c’est ça! Exactement!
(French)—Yes, that’s it exactly!

Oui, je connais.
(French)—Yes, I know/recognize it.

Oui. Bien. Très bien.
(French)—Yes. Fine. Very well.

Ouvre la porte! Vite!
(French)—Open the door! Quick!

Pas de problème
(French)—no problem

Perigrinni
(Medieval Latin)—pilgrims

Physiologus
(Latin)—
Natural Science
. Originally a Greek work of late antiquity about the natural world. Popular in the Middle Ages in Latin. Icelandic version written later.

Poudrerie
(Canadian French)—drifting or powdery snow

Prends garde.
(French)—Take care/be on your guard.

Qu’est-ce que c’est?
(French)—What is it?

Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça?
(French)—What’s that?

Qu’est-ce que tu fais?
(French)—What are you doing?

Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
(French)—What’s happening?

Regarde, chérie, regarde mon pays.
(French)—Look, sweetheart, see my country.

Roth Mór an tSaoil
(Irish)—
The Great Wheel of Life
(Note: this is the Irish title of Micheal MacGowan’s book about his adventures in the Yukon’s gold rush called in English
The Hard Road to Klondike.
)

’S FOSGAIL AN DORUS ’S LEIG A’STIGH SINN!
(Scots Gaelic)—Open the door and let us in!

S’il te plaît
(French)—please (informal of
s’il vous plaît
)

Sadhu
(Sanskrit)—literally meaning “good.” The name given to a Hindu holy man or woman who wanders throughout India. They have renounced material life and live in a state of perpetual pilgrimage.

Saltair na Rann
(Medieval Irish)—
Psalter of Verse,
a tenth-century manuscript containing songs and poems about “life, the universe and everything.”

Salut
(Canadian French)—Hi

Saskehavas
(Coast Salish)—Sasquatch in Canada, Bigfoot in the US, and in Tibet, the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman

Sensible
(French)—sensitive

Son nom?
(French)—His name?

Tabernac
(Canadian French)—swear word referring to “tabernacle.” Many French-Canadian curses refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Also used in the book are
câlisse
for
calice
(chalice) and
maudit
(damned).

Tabula rasa
(Latin)—blank/clean slate

Toujours
(French)—always

Tria digita scribunt, totus corpora laborat.
(Medieval Latin)—Three fingers write, but the whole body labors. (More graffiti written by another monk long ago.)

Umiak
(Inuktitut)—skin boat

Un peu
(French)—a little

Une chanson irlandaise
(French)—an Irish song

Vite! Rapidement!
(French)—Quick! Hurry!

Vitement
(French)—quickly

Voyageur canadien
(Canadian French)—woodsman, guide, trapper, boatman, explorer. Literally “Canadian traveler.”

Lyrics from
“Le Canot”
and
“Les Canayens sont Toujours Là”
are used with the kind permission of the Centre francoontarien de folklore, Université de Sudbury, Ontario.

Lyrics from “GIANT,” Stan Rogers (SOCAN) © 1977, used with the kind permission of Fogarty’s Cove Music and Ariel Rogers.

The following material found in Chapter 21 is used with the kind permission of Ronald Caplan, editor of
Down North: The Book of Cape Breton’s Magazine
, published by Doubleday in 1980 and reprinted by Breton Books: the Scots Gaelic poem
“An Calluinn”
transmitted by Mr. Roderick MacLeod, the Acadian song from Miss Marguerite Gallant (English translation by O.R. Melling),
ceann groppi
recipe from Mrs. Sadie MacDonald, spruce beer from Mrs. Lillian Williams, and larrigans from Mr. Donald Garrett MacDonald.

References to and dialogue quotes from Tim Severin’s
The Brendan Voyage
(various publishers) used with kind permission of the author.

References to Sharon Butala and her work used with kind permission of the author and her publisher, HarperCollins Canada.

Lyrics from “Kathy I” (Chapter 25) and “
O Siem
” (Chapters 41 and 42) used with kind permission of the artist and songwriters: Susan Aglukark, Aglukark Entertainment Inc (SOCAN), Chad Irschick (SOCAN), and Kelita Haverland Music (SOCAN).

Throughout the book there are quotes from other sources such as the Bible, Shakespeare, Farid ud-din Attar’s
Parliament of the Birds
, Hildegard of Bingen (as translated by Matthew Fox), Hannah Arendt, Scott Peck, Henry David Thoreau, and various poets such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Samuel Coleridge, William Blake, and Wallace Stevens. These are found in italics.

Most of Grandfather’s statements are teachings of Elders given to me or found on record. His words concerning the land are from the written brief
In the Spirit of the Land: Statement of the Gitskan and Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, 1987–1990.