SSBMI Language Department

Sewín Tuulémɨsén Ha

Thank you for visiting Sewín Tuulémɨsén Ha (Rivers and Relations) at the Shingle Springs Rancheria's Lólmen Gallery (Oct. 21 - Jan. 5)!

This show is presented by the SSBMI Exhibits & Collections Center in partnership with concept:art+movement through the Momím Wadaahá (Water Wellness) art campaign. The Momím Wadaahá team collaborated with the SSBMI Language Department to share the Nisenan language in the titles of this show and the other shows that comprise this campaign.

Here, you can listen to the title of the Sewín Tuulémɨsén Ha show and learn more about the Nisenan language we have shared.

The title of this show, Sewín Tuulémɨsén Ha, means 'Rivers and Relations' in Southern Hill Nisenan. The word sew means 'river(s)' and the word tuulémɨsé means 'relations' or 'relatives'. The endings on each word (-ín and -n, respectively) and the final element (ha) together mean 'and'.

In other programming and materials from the SSBMI Exhibits & Collections Center and the SSBMI Language Department, you may have learned another word for river, mómti. The difference between sew and mómti is an example of dialect variation.

Southern Hill Nisenan is the dialect of the Nisenan language traditionally spoken on the lands where the Shingle Springs Rancheria now sits, and it is the dialect that SSBMI Matriarch Annie Hill Murray Paris and her relations spoke. While speakers of Southern Hill Nisenan call rivers sew, speakers of Valley Nisenan, including SSBMI Matriarch Pamela Cleanso Adams and her relations, call rivers mómti.

When words are strongly linked to place, like sew and mómti are, we use the word that is most closely tied to our location. For this reason, the titles of the Mómtim Péwinan exhibit and Mómti Market, which take place in the Sacramento Valley, feature the Valley Nisenan word for river, mómti, while this exhibit’s title highlights the Southern Hill Nisenan word, sew.

More on Nisenan dialects

The Nisenan language has been spoken in the Sacramento Valley and the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada since time immemorial, including by the Tribe's matriarchs Pamela Cleanso Adams & Annie Hill Murray Paris and their close relations. Nisenan has four major dialects (Map 1):

Valley Nisenan, which is spoken around the Sacramento River, the Feather River, and the lower parts of the American River in an area that stretches from south of the city of Sacramento to as far north as Yuba City.

Southern Hill Nisenan, spoken around the South Fork of the American River and southward to the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River, including around what are now Placerville and the location of the Shingle Springs Rancheria.

Central Hill Nisenan, spoken around the North and Middle Forks of the American River, including around what are now Auburn and Nevada City.

Northern Hill Nisenan, spoken around the South Fork of the Yuba River and extending further northwards, including around what is now Downieville.

Pamela Cleanso Adams and her close relations spoke Valley Nisenan, while Annie Hill Murray Paris and her close relations spoke Southern Hill Nisenan.

These dialects are actually fairly similar to one another in terms of their words & grammar. We know this in part through our own research and because speakers made similar observations about the dialects. For example, Ida Hill Starkey (who spoke Southern Hill Nisenan) told anthropologist C. Hart Merriam in 1936 that she knew Tom Cleanso (who spoke Valley) and that their dialects were similar.

Map 1, showing the locations of Maiduan languages including Nisenan & its dialects. Source: "California Indian languages" (Golla 2011:137).

That said, there are some differences between Valley Nisenan and Southern Hill Nisenan which we try to respect when we share language with the SSBMI Tribal Membership. To illustrate this, here are some examples of words that differ between these two dialects: