Kiichul
Kiichul is the Hiaki word for “cricket”. Kichulim are well known for chirping loudly through the night, but what you may not know about them is that they eat clothes! If you find little holes are mysteriously appearing in your t-shirts, it could be that kichulim have found their way into your closet. To complain about such a problem, you could say Ume kichulim si haiti taho’ota bwabwa’e, which means “Crickets very annoyingly eat clothing”.
Maachil
Maachil means “scorpion”, one of the meaner creepy crawlies, well known and feared for its sting. If you get stung by maachil, you should take one clove of garlic and chew on it for a while, and then take another one and tie it to the wound. Kovatarao is the Hiaki word for the “short-tailed scorpion” or “mata venado” in Spanish. Kovataraom look quite different from Machilim, but they still have a nasty sting and they move very quickly.
Waka wo’ochi
Waka wo’ochi is a Hiaki phrase meaning “locust”. Waka comes from the word waka’ate or waka’anama, which means “crawling around”, and wo’ochi refers to “hopping”. Some Hiakis will simply call locusts and all other types of grasshoppers wo’ochi.
Eye’ekoe
Eye’ekoe is a Hiaki word meaning “millipede”. During the time of year when saguaro fruits are ripening and falling to the ground (June & July), you’ll always find eye’ekoem crawling around near the saguaros, as they enjoy their fruit just like people do. As frightening as they look, eye’ekoem typically won’t bite you. To describe how eye’ekoem crawl around on the ground, you could say something like Uu eye’ekoe chukui trentavena, which means “the millipede looks like a black train”.
