SSBMI Language Department

Nisenan and Miwok Greetings

The SSBMI Language Department is committed to sharing Tribal language greetings. As part of our Greetings Initiative, we are teaching all SSBMI employees one Nisenan greeting and one Northern Sierra Miwok greeting, and we are encouraging the use of Tribal language greetings in all employment capacities. Here, you can learn these greetings and find other ways to say "hello" and "goodbye" in Nisenan and Miwok. You can also learn more about the Greetings Initiative and why we believe it is important that Tribal employees use Tribal language greetings.

Here are the two greetings (one in Nisenan and one in Miwok) that we have asked all SSBMI employees to learn:

Below, you can learn more about these greetings and other ways that you can say "hello" and "goodbye" in Nisenan and Miwok, as well as find more information about our Greetings Initiative. For more help reading these phrases, please consult our Guide to the SSBMI Nisenan Alphabet or our Guide to the SSBMI Miwok Alphabet, which you can download and print at home.

Nisenan greetings and farewells

Séekas’in! As part of our Greetings Initiative, we have asked all SSBMI employees to learn the Nisenan greeting séekas’in.

According to Tom Cleanso, the brother of SSBMI Matriarch Pamela Adams, this is a greeting used by the people of Pusúune (a.k.a. "Pushune"), a Nisenan village site at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers which is significant to SSBMI Tribal Members. Historically, not all Nisenan speakers would have used this greeting, but today many SSBMI Tribal Members say séekas’in to greet one another in Nisenan.

Another common way that Nisenan speakers greet one another is to ask homáakani?, which means "how are you?".

In Nisenan, you use different words to mean "you" depending on whether you are talking to exactly one person, exactly two people, or three or more people. The greeting homáakani? addresses exactly one person, and you can use slightly different words to greet two people or a group:

There are many different ways you can respond when asked homáakani? For example, you could say wenném ni, which means "I am good":

Heads up! When someone asks "How are you?" in English, it is common to simply say "good" rather than spell out "I am good". In English, this gets the message across. In Nisenan, the word ni means "I", so you might be tempted to simply say wenném. However, Nisenan is a lot different than English! Wenném actually means "he, she, or it is good", so be sure to say the full phrase wenném ni.

Want to learn other ways to talk about how you're feeling in Nisenan? Check out our How are you feeling? page!

You may also hear Nisenan speakers greet one another by asking homonáan ɨdáwkani?, which literally means "where are you coming from?".

Like the greeting homáakani?, the greeting homonáan ɨdáwkani? addresses exactly one person rather than a group of people. Here is how you can rephrase this question to greet two people or a group of three or more people too:

Today, you may also hear us greet one another by saying wenném okó, which is literally "good day", or wenném otóo, literally "good morning":

What should you say? As a learner, you may find it intimidating to learn all of these greetings at once. We recommend that you pick a greeting and use it as often as you can, and learn and use other greetings as you feel comfortable doing so. For example, we chose to teach séekas’in as part of the Greetings Initiative because it is relatively easy to pronounce (plus, you can say it when greeting any number of people).

Saying "goodbye" in Nisenan

One common way that Nisenan speakers part ways with one another is to say uk’oyím ni, which literally means "I am going". However, you can also use uk’oyím ni to say "goodbye" even if you are not actually going anywhere (such as in response to someone else leaving):

You may also hear Nisenan speakers part ways with one another by saying sitapáy’omís, which tells one person to "take care of yourself". If you want to use similar language to part ways with a group of people, you can say sitapáy’omiswá, which means "take care of yourselves":

Heads up! In English, it is pretty natural to say "take care" as a shortened form of "take care of yourself". In Nisenan, -’omís means "yourself", so you might be tempted to simply say sitapáy. However, Nisenan is different than English! Sitapáy actually means "take care of him, her, or it".

Today, you may also hear us say éwes ni min amakɨskɨsí, which means "I will see you later", or éwes ni min otóopay, "I will see you tomorrow":

What should you say? We recommend that you pick one of these phrases and use it anytime you say "goodbye"; you can add additional phrases to your repertoire when you feel comfortable. Uk’oyím ni is relatively easy for learners to say, and you can use it in many different contexts.

Miwok greetings and farewells

Micɨ́ksɨs! As part of our Greetings Initiative, we have asked all SSBMI employees to learn the Northern Sierra Miwok greeting micɨ́ksɨs.

Micɨ́ksɨs is a greeting that is commonly used by speakers of Northern Sierra Miwok, which we teach as part of the Tribe's heritage, as well as by speakers of a similar (though distinct) Miwok language, Central Sierra Miwok. In Northern Sierra Miwok, this greeting means "how are you?".

In Northern Sierra Miwok (henceforth "Miwok"), you use different language to mean "you" depending on whether you are talking to exactly one person or two or more people. The greeting micɨ́ksɨs addresses exactly one person, and you can use slightly different wording to greet a group:

There are many different ways that you can respond when asked micɨ́ksɨs? For example, you could say kucít, which means "I am good":

Want to learn other ways to talk about how you're feeling in Miwok? Check out our How are you feeling? page!

Another common way that Miwok speakers greet one another is to ask kucí’’acin aa?, which means "are you well?".

Like micɨ́ksɨs, the greeting kucí’’acin aa? addresses exactly one person. Here is how you can rephrase this to greet a group of people instead:

Today, you may also hear us greet one another by saying kucí’ hi’éema’, which is literally "good day", or kucí’ káalɨpa’, literally "good morning":

What should you say? As a learner, you may find it intimidating to learn all of these greetings at once. We recommend that you pick a greeting and use it as often as you can, and learn and use other greetings as you feel comfortable doing so. For example, we decided to teach micɨ́ksɨs as part of the Greetings Initiative because it is relatively easy for learners to pronounce (plus, you can say it many different contexts).

Saying "goodbye" in Miwok

One way that Miwok speakers part ways with one another is to say wó’lum, which literally means "I am going back", or wɨ́ksɨm, which literally means "I am going". However, you can also use these phrases to say "goodbye" even if you are not actually going anywhere:

Today, you may hear us say káalɨpay when parting ways; this is related to the word stem káalɨpa- and means "tomorrow" as well as "morning":

What should you say? We recommend that you pick one of these phrases and use it anytime you say "goodbye"; you can add the others to your repertoire when you feel comfortable. Wó’lum is relatively easy for learners to say, and you can use it in many different contexts.

Do you want to know more?

What is the Greetings Initiative? In July 2023, SSBMI Tribal Council officially adopted the Language Department's Greetings Initiative, which is our proposal to teach all SSBMI employees two greetings in the Tribe's heritage languages and encourage them to use Tribal language greetings whenever possible. This includes one greeting in Nisenan (séekas’in) and one greeting in Northern Sierra Miwok (micɨ́ksɨs).

Why should you use Tribal language greetings? Using Tribal language greetings in Tribal spaces has important symbolic value. Even if you are not an SSBMI Tribal member yourself, when you use Tribal language greetings instead of English ones you help demonstrate that this is a Tribal community that values and respects its heritage. You also reinforce that Tribal spaces are safe spaces for learners to use Tribal languages. This can be very impactful, especially for Tribal Youth. We encourage you to support the SSBMI community and our efforts to reclaim the Nisenan & Miwok languages by using Tribal language greetings, such as séekas’in (Nisenan) and micɨ́ksɨs (Miwok), as often as you can.

More generally, greetings are easy to learn and use! We believe that all SSBMI employees can learn at least two Tribal language greetings without significant effort. You can use Tribal language greetings in many different contexts, such as greeting coworkers or guests, answering the phone, and writing emails. You can do so without fear of miscommunication, because context makes it clear that you are using a greeting, even if the person you are addressing has never heard the Nisenan or Miwok languages before.

Learning to speak a language takes time and effort. While greetings are only one small part of language, we believe that by adopting séekas’in and micɨ́ksɨs in Tribal workspaces, SSBMI employees can play an important role in supporting the reclamation of Tribal languages more broadly.

About the website: This website is maintained by SSBMI Language Department staff in order to share Nisenan and Miwok language learning resources with the Tribal Membership and other learners. Our current team consists of: Jonathan Geary, Richenda Ervin, and Skye Anderson. Unless otherwise specified, the Nisenan and Miwok audio recordings that you will find on this website are of Jonathan, Richenda, and Skye.

You can find other resources for learning more Nisenan and Miwok on this website, like how to respond when someone asks "how are you?".

We are all learners of the Nisenan and Miwok languages, and we hope that you will join us in learning Nisenan and Miwok too!

If you have any questions, please contact us at language@ssband.org.

Webpage last updated: 2024-05-31