MOHAWK FIRST NATIONS LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION IN CANADA

PRESENTED BY SAMANTHA DEMEYER, CORINNE HAMILL, KAYLA MCELWEE,

DEBORAH OBREGON, CELESTE PADILLA

CULTURAL DEMOGRAPHICS

Mohawk nation encompasses 8 communities across Canada and the United States

Mohawk part of Iroquois language family

Focus of our research is on Kahnawake, 20 min away from urban center of Montreal, Quebec

Mohawk Nation population 16, 200, Population in Kahnawake 7,300

Montreal Population approximately 3, 800, 000

LANGUAGE DEMOGRAPHICS

Language Majority Groups: English and French

Language Minority Groups: Iroquois and Algonquian Language Families

Linguistic position of Kahnawake children upon entering immersion schools 1950s: most children spoke exclusively

English

1970s: there was a push to begin teaching Mohawk at a younger age before school

Present: many children enter school with knowledge of Mohawk language

“ It is not uncommon in Kahnawake to hear people conversing with their grandchildren in Mohawk, then switching to English to speak to their own children”

Hoover, Michael. "The Revival of the Mohawk Language in Kahnawake." Brandonu. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2013.

MOHAWK INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES WITH CANADA'S REVITALIZATION PROGRAM

Kindergarden-6th grade: only Mohawk

7&8: 50% Mohawk and 50% English

High School: 40% Mohawk and 60% English

Students have are required to take one semester of Mohawk and one semester of Native Studies that is taught only Mohawk.

Goal: to transmit the language and culture so they can continue the cultural way of life.

Kahnawake during the 1970's only 15 minutes of Mohawk was taught in elementary schools

Bill 101 enacted many Mohawk books, pictures, resources become available to public.

The public came together and created a program to teach Mohawk in school.

Created a bond between the community

Mohawk Instructional Practices with Canada's Revitalization Program

LANGUAGE, LITERACY AND CULTURAL GOALS

Example: Akwenasene Freedom School (preK-8 immersion)

preK-6 in Mohawk, English introduced in 7th grade

50:50 English and Mohawk helping with transition to public school

Preservation of culture (stories, skills, art, history, way of life)

Strengthen Mohawk Nation

Raise up leaders by teaching the whole person

Language learned by speaking then writing & reading

POLICY ISSUES FROM 17TH CENTURY TO 1970

o Beginning in the mid-17th Century

The Indian Residential Schools (IRS) educational system saw First Nations children taken to boarding schools to be “civilized,” educated, and converted to Christianity.

o In the 1970’s, a sharp policy shift from segregation toward integration increased the role of provinces and territories in the education of First Nations children.

60% of First Nations students were attending provincial or territorial public schools.

Little accommodation was made for the educational needs of First Nations students, including respect for their languages, history and cultures.

POLICY ISSUES FROM 1970 TO 1990

In 1972, the National Indian Brotherhood manifested its vision for its education in a position paper entitled Indian Control of Indian Education.

The document set out an educational philosophy affirming the principles of First Nations local control of education.

Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, the federal government embarked on transferring responsibility for on-reserve elementary and secondary education to First Nations.

Policy Issues: 1990s to Now

1999: Kahnawake Language Law

“We are determined to remind the People of the importance of reviving, restoring, and perpetuating our language.”

Communication, education, ceremony, government, and business

2010: UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Canada originally opposed in 2007

Culture, identity, language, health, and education

2010: McIvor v. Canada

45,000 more people will become entitled to registration

If a part of the community, more likely to retain language, culture, etc.

More than

Mohawk continue to speak their traditional language

(Abler 1996)

Policies Compared to the United States

Educational/Language Policies

Originally derived from the United States

Has resulted in much language loss

Indian Act of 1920

Defines who is an “Indian”

Made attendance compulsory in residential schools

Instruction in English-only

GROUP CONSENSUS

Niawen’kó:wa(thank you very much)

REFERENCE LIST

http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/sen/committee/411/appa/rep/rep03dec11-e.pdf

http://www.kahnawake.com/council/docs/LanguageLaw.pdf

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/mohawk

http://www.iroquoismuseum.org/mohawk.htm

http://www.kahnawakelonghouse.com/index.php?mid=2

<!--[endif]-->http://www.autochtones.gouv.qc.ca/relations_autochtones/profils_nations/mohawks_en.htm

http://www2.brandonu.ca/library/cjns/12.2/hoover.pdf

http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/policy-areas/education

Hoover, Michael. "The Revival of the Mohawk Language in Kahnawake." Brandonu. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2013

And of course: García, Ofelia, and Beardsmore Hugo. Baetens. Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell Pub., 2009. Print.