Mohawk language honored in Aboriginal Language Day celebration

At Tsi Snaihne School where the Mohawk language is seen and heard commonly, Tuesday was a day to stop and celebrate how much progress has been made in Akwesasne in recent years to revive a dying language.

March 31 was Aboriginal Language Day and for the past few years the Mohawk immersion students at Tsi Snaihne School have been the leaders of a day-long celebration to showcase what they’ve learned and invite any other students or community members to show what they’ve learned as well.

Beginning in the morning, Tsi Snaihne School students performed various songs and skits for their family members and schoolmates. The show was all in Mohawk and included a skit about Atonwa Messner (Tom Messner). Other students acted out various weather phenomenons and got great laughs and applause from the audience.

In the evening, a new audience came into the school and guests from other schools and communities performed. Bear Fox sang a song with Happy Laughing, the Skahwatsi:ra students performed a story about the origins of smoke dancing, and students from Tsi Snaihne School, Ahkwesahsne Mohawk School and the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School performed a variety of songs and plays.

One skit by the AMS fifth graders told the Mohawk version of Robert Munsch’s book “I Have to Go Pee!” or in Mohawk, Enta:on’k Enkaniskiakeha.

While many in the audience may not have fully understood every skit or performance, it was a learning experience as well as a chance for the community to see what progress local children are making in the area of language.

Some of the community’s elders particularly enjoyed the event, as it is not often they can attend a public activity that is spoken in their first language. It was easy to see which members of the audience were fluent when they’d laugh out loud at something spoken on stage.

Ahkwesahsne community members have taken many steps in recent years to revive the language. Along with the ongoing efforts at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School, new programs were started in the past decade, like the Skahwatsi:ra Program, which is a Mohawk immersion program inside the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education’s Tsi Snaihne School. Also recently a language nest was formerly begun on School Road in Tsi Snaihne. The nest is similar to a daycare in which pre-school children and toddlers attend during the day with frequent participation from their parents to hear the Mohawk language throughout the day from their caregivers.

The Aboriginal Language Day celebration is a nice reminder to all those involved with these programs to see what they’re accomplishing and to have their efforts and success recognized as well.