Muin aqq L’uiknek te’sijik Ntuksuinu’k / Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters

Lillian Marshall, Murdena Marshall, Prune Harris and Cheryl Bartlett

Listen to a CBC interview with Lillian Marshall and Murdena Marshall (Jan. 20, 2011)

MI’KMAWEY TEPKIKEWEY MUSIKISKEY A’TUKWAQN

Na a‘tukwaqn Muin aqq Luiknek tesi’jik Ntuksuinu’k sa’qewey a’tukwaqn Mi’kmawey.

Etliaq oqwatnik musikiskituk kloqejk ta’n aknima’titl muinal aqq luiknek te’sijik ntuksuinu’k kiwto’qita’ titl tatapnn oqwatnukewey kloquej.

Telipkijiaq newti punqek ta’n kloquejk aqq ktoqwatnikkl wsitqamu’l alta’jik muskiskoqwat­niktuk, Mi’kmaq ankama’tiji a’tukwaqniktuk Muin aqq Ntuksuinu’k etli pana’sik wpukikuaq.

A MI’KMAW NIGHT SKY STORY

The story of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters is a very old Mi’kmaw legend. It happens in the North Sky as the stars that show the story of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters move around Tatapn, the North Star.

In the pictures in this book you can see how these stars, shown as they appear two hours before dawn, move through the night sky. They are in a different position in each of the seasons because they are the time-keepers, they are the calendar.

All through the year, as the stars and planets travel through the sky, the Mi’kmaq watch the story of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters as it unfolds before their eyes.