yeyawa

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jeɪˈja.wa/

Adverb

yeyawa

1. late night (middle of the night, deep of the night, wee hours)

   Taaa ka toneju oukaka, ejeikepei kawoka. Ejekewi kawoka yeyawa. Ninye neke nojeike kawoka uma pa kai – toneju wiu whun.

   Well, long ago there was a woman [who] played the [sacred] flute. She played the [sacred] flute in the deep of night [under cover of darkness]. "I'm going to play the flute now," is exactly what that woman said.

   Umejo iyawi, iya kwakwoho onakuwi. Punupa kali, yuutapai ninyu wi? uma pa kai.... Ehn, ninyu apakatapai yiuwi. Nejo kala awatanatapai yeyawa han. Awatanata yeyawa ninyu, muinyakatama. Aitsa yuutapai hyan? uma. Hain? Nejokuma kalano? umakonapai ipitsi.

   Her husband went, [he] went into the men's house. "Now see here, do you all know about my wife [what my wife has been up to]?" he surely did say. "Well, my wife is causing [the Flute Spirit] to sing. She's the very one who has been playing the [sacred] flute in the middle of the night. She plays the flute at night, and the dawn merely returns." [She is brazenly playing all through the night until daybreak, without anyone putting a stop to it]. "So you all didn't even know about this?" he said. "What? Could she possibly have been the one [to do such a thing]?" they all said about it.

Synonyms

• muntogakiya (“darkness, night”)

Antonyms

• kamomawa (“daytime”)
• muinyakaki (“daylight”)

See also

• yetsopikitsa (“dawn, daybreak”)

References

• "Taaa ka toneju" uttered by Itsautaku, storyteller and elder, recounting the traditional Wauja tale of the "Man Who Drowned in Honey," in the presence of his adolescent son Mayuri, adult daughter Mukura, and others. Recorded in Piyulaga village by E. Ireland, December 1989, transcript p. 1.
• "Umejo iyawi, uttered by Itsautaku, ibid., p. 5. In this short excerpt, a bold young woman has disguised herself as a man, and is causing the voice of the Flute Spirit to be heard when she plays the sacred flute. This is a grave sacrilege, since the mere sight of the flutes is forbidden to women, with severe penalties for infraction. Upon discovering that she has been out playing the flutes all night, her jealous husband publicly exposes her deception, and demands that she be punished.