Welcome to ta’saawanwaatoweeyakwe, the new blog series dedicated to the Shawnee Language Immersion Program’s happenings and language preservation work. Now that we are most of the way through the first year of our Master-Apprentice program, we wanted to share some of our work. Each week we focus on a new concept, and we had a lot of fun during our story unit. ke’ki’kimoofocki (students) and keeke’kimiweecki (teachers) alike wrote short stories in saawanwaatoweewe (Shawnee language), designed to be simple for ease of understanding. Read the English translations of their stories below! Log in to SLIPstream to read this post in saawanwaatoweewe [the Shawnee language]. Need to register for SLIPStream? Email a copy of your tribal ID to shawneelanguage@shawnee-tribe.com.

Mikala Hill

The mouse looks for cheese.

They looked in the living room but couldn’t find the cheese.

They looked in the bedroom but couldn’t find the cheese.

They looked in the bathroom but couldn’t find the cheese.

Mouse thought.

They looked in the kitchen, there they found cheese.

The mouse cooked cheese and was happy.

Marsha Meyer

This cat is looking for mice.

He looks in the living room but doesn’t find mice.

He looks in the bedroom but doesn’t find mice.

He looks in the bathroom but doesn’t find mice.

This cat thinks.

He looks in the kitchen and here he finds mice.

This cat chases the mice, he eats them and he is happy.

Margaret Sewell

My mother looks for a book.

She looks in the living room but doesn’t find the book.

She looks in the bedroom but doesn’t find the book.

She looks in the bathroom but doesn’t find the book.

My mother thinks.

She looks in the kitchen, here she finds the book.

My mother reads and she’s happy.

Daniel Citty

My baby daughter is looking for milk.

Near her toys she looks, but she doesn’t find milk.

Behind the rocking chair she looks, but she doesn’t find any milk.

In the kitchen she looks, but she doesn’t find any milk.

My baby daughter thinks.

In the bedroom she looks, here is her mama!

My wife nurses her, our baby daughter, and they are happy.

Ryan Conway

This coyote looked for a toy.

He looked for it in the forest but he didn’t find a toy.

He looked for it in the field but he didn’t find a toy.

He looked for it at the lake but didn’t find a toy.

This coyote thought.

He looked for it at the store, right here he found a toy!

This coyote played and he was glad!

Dillon Dean

My Grandma looks for a cigarette.

In the living room, she searched but did not find a cigarette.

In the bedroom, she searched but did not find a cigarette.

In the bathroom, she searched but did not find a cigarette.

My grandma thought.

In the kitchen, she searched, and here she found a cigarette.

My grandma smoked and was happy.

Coral Avery

Little duck looks for her friend.

She searched among the flowers, but she didn’t find her friend.

She searched in the woods, but she didn’t find her friend.

She searched at the garden, but she didn’t find her friend.

Little duck thought.

She searched by the lake, there she found her friend.

Now little duck can play with her friend and she is happy.

Lindsey Jennings

This mouse looks for a bed.

Wiila looks in the living room but doesn’t find a bed.

Wiila looks in the kitchen but doesn’t find a bed.

Wiila looks in the bathroom but doesn’t find a bed.

This mouse thinks.

Wiila looks in the bedroom, here wiila finds a bed.

This mouse sleeps and is happy.

Steve Roach

My brother looks for a book.

He looks in the living room but does not find the book.

He looks in his bedroom but does not find the book.

He looks in the bathroom and does not find the book.

Finally my brother thinks.

He looks in the basement and here he finds the book.

My brother sells the book and he becomes happy.

Andrea Conway

Rabbit-lady looks for glasses.

She searched in the burrow, but she didn’t find glasses.

She searched by the river, but she didn’t find glasses.

She searched on the table, but she didn’t find glasses.

Rabbit-lady thought.

She searched in the garden, there she found the glasses.

Now rabbit-lady can see with her eyes and she is happy.