Yesterday the 22nd annual Sonot Kkaazoot ski race was held in Fairbanks (see News-Miner article). The Sonot is usually a 50 km race from downtown Fairbanks up the Chena River to Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Center and back. But for the past two years the race has been held in shortened form entirely at Birch Hill due to unstable ice conditions on the river. I don't know the story of the origin the name of the race, but it appears to come from Koyukon Athabascan Sonot Kk'o'eelzoot, meaning literally 'sliding around in early spring'.
The word sonot itself is an interesting one, meaning 'early spring when thawing begins'. It is derived from so 'sun' and not 'omen'. Thus so-not 'presaging the sun', but with yesterday's temperatures barely rising above zero, it probably didn't feel like sonot.
The word kk'o'eelzoot is based on the root -zoot 'to slide' and means 'he is sliding around', the closest Koyukon approximation of 'skiing'. As for how the race name came to be spelled with kkaa- rather than kk'o'eel- I can't say. Why a Koyukon name rather than a local Lower Tanana name also remains a mystery. But note that the English name Birch Hill does indeed derive from the Lower Tanana name K'iyh Ddheł, literally 'birch mountain'.
Let's hope sonot will arrive soon.
I remember when they asked Mom for a name. They asked her because because someone called ANLC. Since there wasn't an LT linguist, Mom got most of the calls. Sometime's Mom adapts words so it is easier for people to say.
ReplyDeleteSomeday we'll have to ask her.
I was the one who created this RACE..and talk to a lady at UAF, seaching for some words that would decribe a cross country ski race held in March. She came up with a long list of words for "Sringtime"..SONOT was what i chose, and "KKAAZOOT", which she said meant : (to slide your feet across the snow). She said that early people from this area would use this word to decribe a cross country skiers skiing action.
ReplyDeleteBob Baker
Bob, I'm guessing that lady must have been Susan's mom, Eliza Jones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for creating this great race!
As far as I know, the Sonot remains the only Alaskan ski race with a Native name. Here I discount the Oosik Classic, since the word oosik has already come into common parlance in English, as evidenced by the anglicized spelling (from Inupiaq usik).
And while we're on the topic, I think the only other public use of Athabascan language to refer to skiing is in the name Tsałt'eshi Trails in Soldotna. Please correct me if I'm wrong.