Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na, a language advocacy organization in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, hopes that by next September all of its Kanien’kéha (Mohawk language) classes will be being taught at a new language and cultural centre under construction.
Callie Hill, Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na director, said this project has been a long time coming.
“It’s always been a goal of ours to have our own building,” she said.
“We’ve lived in leased properties in the community. It’s still surreal to me to see the walls, to see the building [going] up.”
Language programming is currently housed in two different buildings within the territory.
Totáhne (the early years program) and Kawenna’on:we (a primary immersion school for senior kindergarten to Grade 4) are in a one-room schoolhouse and former day school. Adult classes and administration are in the lower level of Tyendinaga’s public library.
Hill said programs are at capacity.
She said research shows having multiple generations under one roof adds to the vitality of language in community, and said they’ve already seen results from those connections.
“We had babies coming to our language nest back in 2008 at the same time their parents were learning at a different location, but we knew that they were coming together at home in the evenings and that was a really great time in our community where language was really thriving really well,” she said.
Longhouse design
The main feature of the 10,000-square-foot Kenhtè:ke Language and Cultural Centre will be is its longhouse design. A top-down view of the building, landscaping, and parking lot will reveal the shape of a turtle, which Hill said is culturally significant to them.
Plans also include a small recording studio, a teaching kitchen and art studio in addition to classrooms and offices.
Hill said the idea for the overall design of the building came from a sketch by a staff member, which was taken further by on-reserve high school students who created a 3D image.
Winnipeg-based Brooke McIlroy Indigenous Design Studio did the architectural designs.
The centre will sit on about 3.5 hectares of property the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte leased to Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na. The Government of Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program is contributing $9.6 million and an additional $1 million is being provided by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na, a language advocacy organization in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, hopes that by next September all of its Kanien’kéha (Mohawk language) classes will be being taught at a new language and cultural centre under construction.
Hill said construction is estimated to take 16 months and they broke ground in the spring.
Tkarahkwénhas, a teacher at Kowenna’onwe, said although she loves the character and charm of the one-room schoolhouse, sometimes they feel isolated. She said she’s “pretty stoked” about this next phase.
Tkarahkwénhas said she’s seen how beneficial learning the language is for her students.
“When we go out there and they’re actually using the language in the community, you see this pride that comes out in the kids…. They’re very proud they can speak,” she said.
Erica Gray, now a student in the adult immersion program, was an administrative assistant at Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na. In the past she co-ordinated land-based teaching events that brought all the programming together with a first-language speaker.
“It was such an incredible experience to hear students of all ages speaking Kanien’kéha,” she said.
“It provides opportunities for more language use. Like I think it would push the adult students to use language a little bit more. I think it’s a little less threatening to use it with children.”