Yatapk’oyihím Mom

Thank you for visiting Yatapk’oyihím Mom (Scattered Water), or Scattered Water Droplets, at the Switchboard Gallery (Nov. 21 - Jan. 12)!

This show is presented by concept:art+movement in partnership with the SSBMI Exhibits & Collections Center and Arts and Culture El Dorado 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 Yatapk’oyihím Mom show and learn more about the Nisenan language we have shared.

English

Scattered Water

Nisenan

Yatapk’oyihím Mom

The artists participating in the Yatapk’oyihím Mom show were chosen to embody a "scattered" representation of Native viewpoints from across the region, and the Nisenan language title of the show, Yatapk’oyihím Mom (Scattered Water), was chosen to reflect this:

The word mom means 'water' and the word yatapk’oy- means 'to scatter (something)'. When linked with the ending -ihím, the resulting phrase means 'scattered water'. When you call something "scattered" in English, you could mean that it just happens to be scattered incidentally, or that some external force scattered it. When you use yatapk’oyihím to call something "scattered" in Nisenan, you are saying that some external force scattered it. Another accurate English translation of this title would be 'water that has been scattered'.

Scattered Water Droplets

The English title of this show is Scattered Water Droplets. We do not have a concise way to contrast "water" with "water droplets" in Nisenan. Rather, we chose Yatapk’oyihím Mom, literally 'Scattered Water', as the Nisenan title of the show because it fits the Nisenan language better.

Do you want to know more?

The Nisenan language that we share is from speakers of the Valley dialect of Nisenan such as SSBMI Matriarch Pamela Cleanso Adams and her brother Tom Cleanso as well as speakers of the Southern Hill dialect such as William Joseph, Ida Hill Starkey, and Charlie Hunchup.

Valley Nisenan and Southern Hill Nisenan are very similar to one another in terms of their words and grammar. To the best of our knowledge, all of the words and phrases that we share here are shared by or would be understood by the speakers of both of these dialects.

The Tribe has ancestral ties to the Nisenan language through the Tribe's Matriarchs, Pamela Cleanso Adams and Annie Hill Murray Paris. Pamela, Annie, and many of their close relations spoke Nisenan and shared their language with researchers in the 1900s. The knowledge that they shared provides us with a pathway to reconnect with the Nisenan language today. The Tribe also has significant connections to ancestral Nisenan villages like Pusúune, K’ademmá, Wóllok, and Yáales, where the Nisenan language has been spoken since time immemorial.

Moreover, the Nisenan language has been spoken in what is now known as Placerville and throughout El Dorado County since time immemorial.

We hope that you will join us in reconnecting with this part of the Tribe's heritage. Nisenáanweypé! (Let's speak Nisenan!)

For any questions, please contact the Exhibits & Collections Center at ecc@ssband.org or the Language Department at language@ssband.org.

Webpage last updated: 2024-12-04