A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

In this excerpt, the speaker (the little girl) was playing around on the shore when she
noticed an old man that really scared her sitting on top of the hill. This overall story is
really about how the little girl stole fry bread in order to feed an old man that was always
taunting her by saying things such as I’m gonna eat you, and I’m gonna marry you when
you grow up. In her description of what she was doing when she noticed the old man
sitting on the hill, she interjects the fact that there were all sorts of stones on the shore.
Now, these stones make no further appearance in the story, showing that their mention is
purely an interjection. Though the stones are irrelevant to the story as a whole, they are
relevant to her prior mention of her playing on the shore catching minnows.
Another similar use shows up in the next excerpt from a story about the making of a
bootaagan, a device used to dehusk wild rice. The speakers explains how they took care
of the bootaagan to make sure it never gets wet, and that they would cover it with a birch
bark roll when it rained. After this, she interjects the point that they do this also at night
when they were using it.
(89) sa go (Kegg 1991:128-129)
Mii ezhi-wenda-ganawenimangid igo weweni gaye ji-nisaabaawesig
DP then we really take care of him/her EPMH carefully also so that s/he does not get wet
ezhi-badagwana’wangid, maagizhaa gaye wiigwaasabakway imaa gimiwang,
then we cover him/her maybe also birch bark roll there when it rains
niibaa-dibik sa go gaye aabaji’aasiwangid.
at night DM DM also when we do not use him/her
‘We took care of it properly so it didn’t get wet, covering it, perhaps with a birch
bark roll, when it rained or at night [sa go] when we weren’t using it.’
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