...which she was dragging
kál’awnik’ay’ poottálqaʔnya píyex̣s ke yóx̣ hinkitíikcene.
(finally..he stepped on her rawhide rope..which..that..she was dragging)
"Finally, Coyote's son stepped on the rawhide rope which she was
dragging."
In the above Nez Perce sentence construction, a linguist might point out that the relative clause (herein identified by the use of "which") has cognitive salience. This is to say that the referent or "rope" becomes more salient in the discourse thus pointing out its key importance in the mythic narrative sequence in which it is found.
Such speaker language usage in narrative is quite common. A relative clause and its use tends to package information efficiently, reduce ambiguity, and allows the listener to access the referent quickly and easily.
Today‘s mini linguistic lesson! The sentence is found in the mythic narrative 'Coyote Breaks the Fish Dam at Celilo,' see page 18 in Nez Perce Oral Narratives (Aoki & Walker 1984).