Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts Language Initiative

Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts is a new language and culture initiative in Akwesasne that completed its first-year pilot project. Our mission at Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts is to re-ignite the life fire of our language by returning to the multi-generational and nurturing familial approach of language and culture acquisition, thus reversing the historical impacts of the residential school system. Our approach to accomplish this is by re-creating a learning environment that we have always had, which was the language to be transmitted in a multi-generational and familial setting.

This family style approach will be guided by mother/auntie/grandmother figures in a safe and nurturing home environment, supported by father/uncle/grandfather figures to ensure that our children's gifts are nurtured and supported as our teachings were intended, while becoming fluent speakers and cultural knowledge holders.

In the naming ceremony, each child was presented to the nation, the elements and all of creation. It was said at that time, that it was the responsibility of all present to watch for the gifts that these children would have and to nurture that gift. We will do this by offering a variety of activities through-out the year, taught by two fluent mothers and assisted by families involved utilizing aunties, uncles, grandparents as the support and extended knowledge base for teaching the youth in a familial setting.

Concept Development:

Kawennahén:te Clute is a wife, mother, and teacher. She grew up in a home that had fluent speakers of different ages as well as access to fluent elder speakers almost weekly in her extended family. It was this model that helped to grow the language over the years for her and her siblings. Her educational endeavors aligned with her goal of becoming a teacher. Her professional goal has always been to maintain our Hodinöhsöní culture through the maintenance of the Mohawk language. She has developed innovative methods of teaching the language by using action, gesturing, pictographs, role modeling, and most importantly, team teaching with other fluent speakers to encourage dialogue. The classroom environment reflects the Longhouse traditions so that not only are the students learning the language they are also learning the culture through the experience of learning the language. Ultimately, Kawennahén:te's dream was to take the children out of the classroom and put them back in the home and natural environment, where learning is done best.

With this in mind, she and her sister set about developing the plan for Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts first pilot year of teaching. The first goal in mind is to decolonize the education of our children by taking them out of the classroom setting and instead, learn hands-on off the land, following the natural cycle of nature, while fully immersed in the Mohawk language.

The second goal is to ensure the children are supported in their language and culture acquisition by their family; parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents and also by other fluent language speakers and cultural knowledge holders from the community.

The third goal was to nurture inherent gifts these children were born with so that their responsibilities to the continued survival of our people's language and customs does not feel like a burden to them. It is the hope that the weight of our survival isn't solely put on our youths' shoulders, which is why this approach to language revitalization of taking the youth out of the box and putting them back on the land is so important. Learning from our elders, family and community while learning hands-on is putting the "fire" back into the language because our language is living and it has to be learned in this way.

A word from Kawennahén:te Clute, Instructor, "Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts was an idea that has always been on my mind and was given the opportunity to come to life this past year. We completed our first pilot year, and we are entering our first official year this coming fall. Growing up, I was fortunate to receive the language because my parents made a conscious decision to only speak Kanien'kehá to my younger sibling and our home then became a Mohawk only spoken home. Having speakers of different ages, and speaking levels, makes learning and the transfer of the language more natural and intentional. There is an automatic shift in a speaker of a higher level helping a speaker of a lower level and it is necessary for this shift to happen in a caring and calm manner.

We witnessed this come to life firsthand. We have 7 families, with children of different ages, and we watched the way that the older students organically took their existing language and helped the younger speakers. Some opportunities presented themselves to us and we had the help and guidance of adult and elder speakers join us for various activities from fixing a deer to braiding corn. It is important to keep in mind that the way we speak to and encourage children while learning to speak the language, will impact how they speak later on in life. If they are spoken to calmly, encouraging, and in a loving manner, they will in turn use those ways to transfer the language.

Something to keep in mind is that we don't always recognize the immense impact that Residential School still has on us. Not only did it take away the language, but it also changed the way we used our language. Most of us heard the language in certain situations, more so when something negative happened, or when our families were using it to communicate with the intent of us not understanding what was being said around us. Having a group like this and being able to take them and do things outside of the walls of a school encourages them to build the confidence to use the language anywhere and everywhere.

We wanted to make the transfer of language happen in a way where the children and families had the opportunity to use the language hands on. We used the cycle of the natural world, what is happening in nature as our guide, and we incorporated the cycle of ceremonies as our learning objectives. This helped the children to bring the Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen to life as they focused on exactly what was happening in each respective season. As we left the Summer and came into the Fall and learned about and prepared for Harvest and End of Season ceremonies, this gave us the opportunity to gather, forage, and harvest the foods and some medicines that are available during this time. We also saw this as an opportunity to share with the children the roles and responsibilities of the people.

Being able to follow the seasonal changes around us, the children and families took what they were learning and could apply what they were learning when attending ceremonies. Our focus for the Fall was the 3 sisters and we were able to take the harvested foods we had and use them and bring them to the festivals to show the gratitude we have that the natural cycles continue to sustain us. We continued this pattern for all the seasons and sought out opportunities to expose the children to situations where they could apply their language. The children were also encouraged to take what they learned to help their families, especially when preparing for upcoming ceremony.

As we are following the natural cycle of Mother Earth and how it relates to our Cycle of Ceremonies the children are beginning to understand the importance of our Thanksgiving address and how we are interconnected to everything around us. This knowledge is important when reclaiming our ways and reversing the losses associated with the intergenerational impacts of the residential school system on our people. The immense impact it had on the natural way that families would have transferred this knowledge to their children is being remedied as we bring that fire back to our language and live it instead of only teaching on paper in classrooms. We are preparing and supporting families to step into their roles in our traditional systems as well as providing a way to support and encourage the learning of speeches that coincide with the upcoming respective ceremonies all year round. We also share these teachings with the community on our personal Facebook pages as well as our Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts Language Initiative Facebook group page.

What we hope we achieve this coming year is watching the transfer of language and knowledge that the children received during the pilot year become more organic. This is our culture, the way that we transfer our knowledge and in-turn our language is by more hands on and situational learning, this creates opportunities for the language and knowledge that the older children have spent years acquiring and learning to the younger students. They role model and come into the role of what we want the younger ones to become.

We are looking for more opportunities that follow the natural cycle of the seasons, so that the children can in-turn apply their learned experiences into real and natural learnings. When teaching and transferring our ways and in turn the language associated with those teachings, the children learn about the roles and responsibilities that should be done and that belong to each and every one of us as Kanonshionniòn:we as second nature. Thus, encouraging the natural familial way that we as Onkwehón:we would have been given our language and ways. At the very core, igniting the life fire of our language by working together to ensure that our ways and language are picked up and dusted off and carried into the future by the 7th generation with the help, care, and guidance of one's who have fought hard and endured the unthinkable due to Residential Schools," Kawennahén:te.

Seeking Mentors

We are also seeking other members of the community who have the language as well as their own gifts to share in their specialized areas. The following are some areas we hope to see shared with our youth:

Basketmaking

Hunting, Fishing & Trapping Singing

Leathermaking

Gardening, harvesting & food storage.

Speeches Wood working

Cooking & canning Storytelling

Instruments

Medicine identification, picking, storage.

Clothing

Lacrosse

Traditional teachings If you have the language and are gifted in any of the following skills, please contact us if you would be willing to share your skills with our youth. We are flexible and can transport the youth to you. We also do language prep before activities and have two language instructors who can help. Donations of time would be great, but we also hope to have a budget for these in the future as we understand not all people have time to donate and some of the skills associated may take a long time to demonstrate.

Niawenkó:wa to our Supporters!

We fundraise often to pay our two full time instructors. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following supporters that made our pilot year a success. If we forgot anyone, please accept our apologies and contact us so that we can update our list. Niawenkó:wa to you all!

Family supporters:

Wentine & Paul Thompson Jr.

Ian & Kawennahente Clute

Ricky & Karrie Benedict

Terry Chrisjohn & Crystal Henry

Leona Swamp & John Bigtree

Cassey Cole & Devin Gamache

Susan Benedict

Donations: (time, funds, fundraising items)

Elizabeth Clute

Lori Benedict

Harris & Donna Cole

Sylvia Swamp

Lynne Thompson

Louise Herne

Patricia Benedict

Joel Herne

Zoe & Seth Oakes

Taryn & Jon Thompson

Jess Danforth

Glenn Swamp

Angela Elijah

David Smoke McClusky

Kenny Perkins

E.F. Doxtater

Nelson Jock

Marie Wensauer

Dyan Swamp

Dave Terrance

Kimmy Terrance

Elisha King

Harvey Thompson

Harvey Paul Thompson Jr.

Stacey Rourke

Support from Businesses/Organizations:

Chrisjohn Arts

Two House Designs

Akwesasne Men's Singers

Aseshate:ka'te Grief Services

Onkwe Inc.

Kanieńkehá:ka Kaianereh'ko:wa Kanonses:neh

Ganienkeh Territory

First Nations Development Institute

Hungry Nine Chip Stand

Turtle's Nest Restaurant

Thompson Island Cultural Camp

American Legion Post 1479

Sons of the American Legion

Donations in memory of Judy Swamp: Andre Leger of St. Lawrence College, Flora Colao and

Faculty & Staff at the Chanie Wenjack School of Indigenous Studies and the First Peoples House of Learning

More information can be found at our website: http://www.tsiakwawennatonhets.com or email us at [email protected]. If you would like to mentor our youth, please contact us at 518-651-4013 to give us your information and area you specialize in. We welcome any and all donations to help support our initiative, whether it be monetary, supplies, or time sharing your skills with our youth. Our next fundraiser is an online auction that can be found on our Facebook page "Tsiakwawennatónhe'ts Language Initiative" beginning August 10 and ending on August 17th, please contact us if you would like to donate to our online auction or join our Facebook group page for future announcements and to stay updated on our activities.