So you want to know how to say "Yvsa" hunh?

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395
In another thread in the other forum my name has come up once again as well as how to say it.
Yvsa isn't my "legal" name but the name I prefer to be known as. It is however a legitimate name and was given to me by a Cherokee Elder Grandmother.
My full Cherokee name is Yvsa Gigagei which means buffalo red or Red Buffalo which means the sound of the prairie fire which sounded like a herd of stampeding buffalo.
The word Yvsa is Cherokee slang.

It is pronounced Yuh (n) Suh with the (n) being more nasal than sounded out.
I will answer to Yuhsuh which is close enough and about all that American English speaking folks can muster. It's even worse with the UK English I would imagine.

If I spelled Yvsa properly it would be Ya na sa or Ya ni s se depending on the dialect. You can go here to see the Cherokee Syllabary and a key to the pronunciation of the letters.

Everyone that speaks American English knows one Cherokee word. It is vv. VV is pronounced uh uh and of course means yes.;) :D
 
Yvsa,
It's weird that you just posted this. Where I work is mostly Hispanic, but I recently found out that one of the young ladies that I work with is actually full blooded Cherokee, not Hispanic, and from Oklahoma. What is strange to me it is that she is only early 20's but she says that her Grandparents speak very little english (only Cherokee). I didn't realize that some people could only speak their native language (Native American) in this day and time. I had actually talked to her about you and written your name down to see if her Grandparents would know what it meant. This give me a little more info. I was going to write you and ask you a few Cherokee words but hate to bother people with emails. I know that it's not exactly the subject of your post, but do you mind posting a few Cherokee phrases or words so that I can go back to work and try to say them? It's very interesting to me. She is suppose to tell me when the next big Pow Wow is over in her area so that I can go and see a little bit of the culture.
 
Yvsa said:
<snip>
Everyone that speaks American English knows one Cherokee word. It is vv. VV is pronounced uh uh and of course means yes.;) :D
Click to expand...
Verry interesting!
In Greek, the word for no sounds like the french oui and the word for yes is NAY!
To make matters worse, the gentures to "Come here!" and "Go away!" are reversed from 'ours'.

Too bad we all doun't just learn Chinese;) :D :foot:
 
Interesting story on the website you mentioned, Yvsa

"...It will defy anything which tries to destroy it."
-The Legend of the Cherokee Rose
 
Interesting,considering I -may- be Cherokee myself (there's a henderson on the lost rolls I hear....that was my born with last name 'till gradma adopted me) also have (and God knows I'm gonna slaugter this) Malisete? from Maine in me....

Plus a few other noteworthy kin :D
 
Yvsa. I feel this is a good time to describe how much respect I have for you as a senior formanite & killem all moderator!

I do not take life in general too seriously. I do not take myself seriously!

I suspect, in this, we are the same.

Culturally I may have offended you.

I regret this, and apologise.

My mouth has always been a worry - now my fingers:confused:

Me bad!! Sorry.

Regards,
Brent.
 
cucharadedragon said:
I was going to write you and ask you a few Cherokee words but hate to bother people with emails. I know that it's not exactly the subject of your post, but do you mind posting a few Cherokee phrases or words so that I can go back to work and try to say them?

It's very interesting to me. She is suppose to tell me when the next big Pow Wow is over in her area so that I can go and see a little bit of the culture.
Click to expand...

Cuch, unfortunately I'm not fluent in Cherokee and only know a few words. I can kind of follow a conversation if it's spoken slower than norm and I can pick out a few words now and then but mostly I'm at a loss. There's way to many of us with Cherokee blood that can't speak the language.
Cherokee is interesting though with a couple of words being real similar. The words for Salt and Water are spelled the same, ama, but spoken with a change in the accent. Salt is spoken more like aama and water as amaa. It can be quite confusing.:eek: ;)
I've went to some Cherokee speaking classes and hopefully will be able to go again as soon as I get a couple more health issues taken care of, sorry.:(

And Cuch, traditionally the Cherokee don't powwow. We're a Stomp Dance people usually but for a lot of us the powwow circle has become a second home. I'm hoping to get to where I can dance again. I'm a Gourd Dancer and a Southern Straight Dancer. If you're interested a Google should turn up some info.
My avatar pic was taken with me in my Straight Dance Regalia.

As far as email goes I try to answer all that I receive but it may be a few days. Anyone from the forum is welcome to email me anytime.:D
 
BrentH said:
Yvsa. I feel this is a good time to describe how much respect I have for you as a senior formanite & killem all moderator!

I do not take life in general too seriously. I do not take myself seriously!
I suspect, in this, we are the same.

Culturally I may have offended you.
I regret this, and apologise.

My mouth has always been a worry - now my fingers:confused:

Me bad!! Sorry.

Regards,
Brent.
Click to expand...

Brent you haven't offended me in any way so no apology necessary.:thumbup: :D

I do try not to take myself seriously although I don't always succeed.
Life is just way too grand and I am too insignificant to be much of anything special.

I honor your respect and thanks for the support as a mod. Being a moderator isn't something anyone *wants* to do or shouldn't be anyway.:rolleyes: :(
I do appreciate everyone here being mostly self policing. It makes our job a lot easier.
I would like to see some more gentle replies to controversial posts though.
It sure seems that several have really had a burr under their blanket lately.:(
It would also be wonderful if everyone, including me, would try to stay more on topic in the other HI Forum though.
I have had to go back and edit a couple of posts the last few days because I was adding to the problem instead of being part of the solution.:rolleyes: :o
I know change is difficult but Spark gave us a wonderful place to play and we should do our best to honor and respect that by keeping our play in this area and being more serious in the HI Forum proper.:)
 
I guess my thread went by the wayside as is the wont of my cantankerous computer . I don,t know where it got such a contrary nature unless it picked it up from my Malamute .
I,m glad you told us the pronounciation as I was way off and I,m usually pretty close about such things .
Language and most cultures have never held me back . Not that I am gregarious (far from it ) I just have so many interests that sitting on my backside rarely seems the way to go .
I am lucky in that the twang of the bow is an international language .
The music may be different the beat is the same the whole world over .
 
Thanks for posting this Yvsa. I have been mispronouncing your name the entire time. I also am very interested to know about vv. VV. Thanks. I bet at the conventions you have to correct people constantly.
 
Thank you for posting the answer to my query. Even though we may never meet, I like to address you correctly when I speak your name in my mind when I see it written. I have only seen native Americans on television in the UK and feel truly blessed to be able to 'talk' to one here. I hope this doesn't sound disrespectful, but when I see the Lakota arthritis cream advert on television here in Canada, it makes me think of you. I expect that sounds rather 'daft', but the gentleman in the advert reminds me of the small image that I see of you. May you continue in good health Ya na sa.

Andrew from England
 
Yvsa said:
If I spelled Yvsa properly it would be Ya na sa or Ya ni s se depending on the dialect.
Click to expand...

I like to use a system call "hooked on optics", a sort of precursor to "hooked on phonics"; where one uses images to remember pronunciation:

attachment.php


Got it, now it's stuck in my mind :thumbup::D
 
I always thought it was pronounced Iv-sa. Thanks for the link. When you start dancing again, will you be coming to the Washington DC powwow in front of the National Museum of the American Indian? Are you even planning on visiting the east coast? I'd like to see some other plains styles.
 
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