User talk:WAlanDavis

Welcome[edit]

Welcome!

Hello, WAlanDavis, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions, especially what you did for Navajo mythology. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

The five pillars of Wikipedia
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How to edit a page and How to develop articles
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 17:17, 8 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Navajo mythology[edit]

Hi. I was wondering what source calls Tééhoołtsódii "Big Water Creature" (capitalized) in English. It seems somewhat odd since that's not the literal meaning. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 17:20, 8 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good question. In Diné Bahane' (1984), Zolbrod translates Tééhoołtsódii as "The One That Grabs Things in the Water" (p. 37) when describing the First World, and as "The Big Water Creature" (p. 71) when Coyote takes her children. In Aileen O'Bryan's translation of the account given by Hastiin Tlo'tse Hee in 1928, she refers to Tééhoołtsódii as "Water Buffalo", "Water Ox", or "Water Monster" (p. 8). I initially used The One That Grabs Things in the Water, but later returned and changed the name to The Big Water Creature simply because I thought it was a more natural sounding name in English. WAlanDavis (talk) 05:03, 10 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hm.I guess -- if you think it sounds better in English; but be aware that the only meaning is Tééh (in water) (h)oo (place) [ł]tsód (grabs) ii (the one who). Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 23:28, 10 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Choyooł'iihí (Great Spruce Mountain -- nice name), thank you for quietly updating old spellings into modern Navajo orthography. That improves the quality and appearance of the article. WAlanDavis (talk) 01:03, 14 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh -- Choyoołʼįįhí is actually much less dramatic. It means "user" :P (you were thinking of Chʼóolʼį́ʼí)...

Another question: can you check your source and look whether it actually says "tsésǫʼ" for "mica" -- in modern usage, the word simply means "window", but could possibly make sense in the story. For now, I replaced it with tsétsʼagí. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 07:10, 14 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The source is Zolbrod, Diné bahane'. On p. 90, he writes: "This they made out of tsésǫ', or rock-star mica." On p. 93, he writes, "So they gathered as many fragments of rock-star mica as they could find. For those could be made to shine in the sky and give extra light." WAlanDavis (talk) 02:26, 15 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I see. "tsésǫʼ" is correct then, but "rock-star mica" will make it clearer. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 02:41, 15 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Take a look at the edit that an anonymous contributor added to Third World under The Men Leave the Women. The contributor added: This is a lie hey hey. Doesn't seem helpful.

indeed. we call that vandalism. Just delete that kinda junk when you see it. It happens now and then. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 07:31, 17 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Seb, I've added a lot of Navajo words with old spellings to Third World. Please fix them when you have time. WAlanDavis (talk) 22:58, 21 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

November 2010[edit]

Welcome to Wikipedia. The recent edit you made to Navajo mythology has been reverted, as it appears to introduce incorrect information. Please do not intentionally add incorrect information to articles; use the sandbox for testing. You may also wish to read the introduction to editing. Thank you. rubicon | talk 04:46, 27 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ignore that. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 04:50, 27 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No, I meant to revert that; "The Monster who kicks people down the cliff" seemed too juvenile to be factual. If my reverting the edit was an error - which it appears to be - then I'm sorry for the confusion and my lack of cultural relativism. --rubicon | talk 05:05, 27 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

nice meeting you[edit]

Alan - We just met at the Wikipedia 10th birthday celebration. I'm basically leaving this message for you to give you a pointer to my talk page. I used to hang out at the WP:help desk and know how most things work here. If you ever have any questions or anything you'd like to do but don't know how, please feel free to ask on my talk page. The help desk is a less personal (but also effective) way to get help.

Regarding the stub rating from wp:WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America for Diné Bahaneʼ, from the talk page if you click "view history" you see all of the edits to the talk page. Looking through this history, the original assessment was apparently done on Jan 24, 2007 by user:Badbilltucker and a reassessment on Mar 24, 2007 by user:Goldenrowley. Looking at Goldenrowley's contributions (from the history of the talk page, there's a link to each editor who made a change with links to that editor's talk page and that editor's contributions), this editor hasn't edited since Nov 2010 so may, or may not, still be active. Looking at Badbilltucker's contributions, he hasn't edited since Jan 2007 so pretty certainly is no longer active. If you want one of them to rerate the article, I'd definitely ask Goldenrowley by posting a message at user talk:Goldenrowley. If he doesn't respond you can go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America and ask at that page's talk page for somebody to rerate the page. -- Rick Block (talk) 21:41, 15 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Rick -- Thanks! Very good to meet you Saturday, and to feel more connected to the Wikipedia community. I'll take your advice and contact Goldenrowley. Alan WAlanDavis 23:57, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Rick, one more thing. I notice that when most people sign their posts, there is an automatic link to their talk page. I'd like to do that, but I don't know how. The Signature instructions on Preferences are completely opaque to me. Signing with four tildes: WAlanDavis 06:47, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

If you type ~~~~ (four tildes) in an edit box, the software replaces it with your signature. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:28, 17 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

ceremonies[edit]

I wouldn't pack everything into the same article, it's getting too long.

Secondly, I would encourage you to talk to elders and hataałii on whether they think it is appropriate to release information on these sacred things into the public domain. Remember, once you hit the save-button, everything on wikipedia can be seen, used, and abused by anyone. Just a thought. I certainly will not participate in editing such topics. But it's up to you.

By the way, if you happen to know Navajo, there's a lot to do @ NV (Wikiibíídiiya Dinékʼehjí) Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 08:07, 17 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

(about signing: have you changed your signature in "my preferences"? Go to "My preference"and copy this into "signature"

[[User:WAlanDavis]] / ([[User talk:WAlanDavis|talk]])

)

Unless you want a custom signature, you don't need to do this - see Wikipedia:Signatures. The standard sig includes a link to your user page, a link to your talk page, and the date. People customize sigs for all sorts of reasons - my sig is customized to reduce the font size of the talk page link - but there's definitely no requirement that you customize it. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:39, 17 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

My thoughts, also. Thanks for stopping by at NV. You've just been "welcomed" there. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 20:31, 17 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

{{spell-nv}}[edit]

It's not a bot, it's a template; what it does is it applies to proper font if you have the font installed (explanation is here). Check out the link @ nv:Anáʼálwoʼ:System check (Notice High-tone nasal i in the examples). Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 02:52, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom elections are now open![edit]

Hi,
You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]