Lingít Word of the Week: Héen — Water

This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over 10,000 years.

Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.

This week’s word is héen, or water. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say héen.

The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences.

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Héen.

That means water.

Here are some sentences:

Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Héen ax̱ x̱’éix̱ natí

Get me a drink of water.

Keihéenák’w John Martin: Héen tuwáadáx̱ áyá haa lix̱éitl.

We are blessed by the water.

Keiyishí Bessie Coolie: Yées héen yaa anayáan, wé ḵáa.

The man is packing fresh water.

Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Ax̱ x̱ʼeit aa sa.ín wé héen.

Bring me some water to drink.

Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Wé héen nadaa.

The water is flowing.

You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week.

Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.

Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.