Jipji'jk “moon of the wintertime” and the "Huron Carol"

   I’ve heard that stories in general, and stories about the Big Snake Being or Horned Serpent in particular, aren’t (and “weren’t”) told until the Winter Solstice occurs. A person shouldn’t even speak the name of the Great Serpent until that solar event.

  Jean de Brébeuf wrote the lyrics, in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people, probably in 1642. He probably had help with those words from First Nations language speakers.

  This morning, some of those words caught my eye in a very different way than they ever had before…

 

“Na kesikewiku'sitek jipji'jk* majita'titek
It was in the moon of the wintertime when all the birds had fled

 Kji-Niskam petkimasnika ansale'wilitka
That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angels…”

 

    "Jesous Ahatonhia" ("Jesus, he is born")

                The "Huron Carol" (or "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime")

     *The Mi'kmaw word "sisipk" is preferred by many to "jipji'jk" for "birds".

 

https://firstnationhelp.com/huron.html

Jipijka'm:

The plural form of their name is Jipijkamak or Jipijkmak,

and the female form is Jipijkamiskw or Jipijkamiskwa.

  Alternate spellings: Jupijkám, Tcipitckaam, Chipitchkam, Chepitchcalm, Kchi Pitchkayam, Ktchi Pitchkaam, Chepechcalm, Chepichkaam, Chepitchkaam, Che-Pitch-Calm, Chepichealm, Jibichkam, Jipijkma, Chepitkam, Ktchi-Pitchkayam
Pronunciation: chih-pitch-kawm
Also known as: The plural form of their name is Jipijkamak or Jipijkmak, and the female form is Jipijkamiskw or Jipijkamiskwa.

http://www.native-languages.org/jipijkam.htm

Mi'kmaq (Mi'kmaw, Micmac, Mikmaq, Mikmak) Language: “The Mi'kmaq language, Mi'kmawi'simk, is an Algonquian language spoken by 8000 Indians in the Canadian Maritimes (particularly Nova Scotia) and a few US communities in the Northeast. The Mi'kmaq dialect spoken in Quebec is called Restigouche (or Listuguj) and can be hard for other native speakers to understand.”

http://www.native-languages.org/mikmaq.htm

From the Mi'kmaw-English Lexicon, another version:

 

"Na kesikewiku'sitek sisipk Majita'titek,

Majita'titek, Kji-Niskam petkimasni…"

jipjl'j n., bird

jipijka'm:  crocodile (!), • Mi'kmaw-English Lexicon  page 80

Kesikewiku's/Kjiku's: “December; the great month”

kaqtukow, kaqtukwew n., thunder

sislp: “bird”

snake: mte'skm

snake (a horned) serpent: jipijka'm

Grandfather (my) (traditional form); my father-in-law (contemporary form): niskamij

God: Niskam

https://naig2023.com/wp-content/uploads/education/Mi_kmaq_Lexicon.PDF