-------------------- see -- stone, rock ----------------------

see -- stone, rock; metal, iron, steel

Pronunciation:
  Like "SEH" or "SAY" (Listen)

Etymology:
  see is from an earlier form tsee, the basic word for rock present with only slight modification in almost all Athabaskan languages (Alaska to New Mexico).

Culture:

  See refers to any rock, stone, boulder, or rock formation.

  See now also refers to iron, steel and other metals since their introduction in the 19th century.

  See is also sometimes used in the names of hills and mountains. For example:
    Seenchaagh, "Big Rock" (Big Rock, northwest of Laytonville)
    Seelhgai, "White Rock" (White Rock, east of Kwonteelhbii' (Long Valley) and Laytonville)

  See was a very useful material to the Naahneesh. From different types of stone they made arrowheads; knives; stones for boiling; mortar slabs for pounding seeds; grinders for carving wood, bone, antlers, and soft stone; scrapers for cleaning hides; mauls for driving elk antler wedges and chisels; and various other implements.
  
  In the Naahneesh cosmology the sky is a large flat slab of sandstone supported by four stone pillars with openings on each side through which each of the four winds pass, and east-west paths to the north and south for the summer and winter progression of the sun. One of the stories from Bill Ray describes the repair/remaking of this structure when the stone had become old. Unfortunately I have not entered and edited the Cahto for this story yet, but you can read Goddard's translation:

  Creation (http://thunder.prohosting.com/~bintcbil/cgi-bin/text2htmlonline.cgi?storynum=2.html)

Related Languages:

  Lassik, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Wailaki: see
  Mattole: se:
  Hupa: tse

-------------------------
Sally Anderson
sally@turtlenodes.com
Cahto Language Home Page: http://www.turtlenodes.com/calath/caindex.html