Adult Mohawk language immersion programming

McGill Journal of Education, Fall 2002 by Bonnie Jane Maracle

ABSTRACT. One method the Mohawk people have used intermittently since 1985 to help with the revitalization and preservation of the Mohawk language is adult immersion programming. In 2001, this study was conducted throughout the Mohawk Nation to determine what factors contribute to the retention of adult students in Mohawk language-immersion programs. Information gathered from program administrators, instructors, students, and two Mohawk Elders is brought together to provide a `one-minded' overview of what works and what doesn't work in adult Mohawk immersion programming.

PROGRAMME D'IMMERSION EN LANGUE MOHAWK POUR LES ADULTES

RESUME. Une methode utilisee de facon intermittente par les peuples mohawks depuis 1985 pour aider A revitaliser et a preserver la langue mohawk reside dans les programmes d'immersion pour les adultes. En 2001, on a mene cette etude dans toute la nation mohawk pour determiner les facteurs qui contribuent au maintien des etudiants d'age adulte dans les programmes d'immersion en langue mohawk. Les renseignements recueillis aupres des administrateurs du programme, des charges de cours, des etudiants et de deux Anciens sont reunis pour donner un apercu , monovalent - de ce qui donne des resultats et de ce qui n'en donne pas dans les programmes d'immersion en mohawk pour les adultes.

TSI NIKARIWAYEN. Ronate'nyentenh ne Kanyen'kehaka ne Kanyen'keha ahshakotirihonnyen' nene senha rotikesten tsi nahe 1985 shityohseroten tho nayawen'ne ahontya'tanonhstate' ne Owenna tahnon oven ahotirihon' ahontatihseke'. 2001 shiyohseroten, akwah tsi ok nonwe kanakerahsera'kehshon ne Kanyen'kehaka, takatahsawen' wa'kateriwayenhste' ne akerihwatshenri' oh naho'tenhshon wahotiyenawa'se' nene senha rotiksten Ronterihwayenhstha ahonterako' ne kawennotahkwenonenrotiweyentehta'onh. Wa'kerihowaroroke' tsi wa'tyakwahtharen' nene Shakotirihwahseronnyennis ne Kanyen'keha karihwaten, nene Shakotirihonnyennis, nene Ronterihwayenhstha, tahnon oni ne Tehotikstenha Yatatis tho nayawen' ne akerihwatshenri' tsi naho'tenhshon rotiyenawases tahnon yah tehotiyenawases ahatiweyentehta'ne' ne Kayen'keha.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Today, the Mohawk Nation is fighting against a deadly enemy - language loss. We, as Mohawk people, have identified the drastic decline in the intergenerational use of the language in our community events, business transactions, and personal affairs. The intergenerational use of the Mohawk language in the home environment of the Mohawk people is a rare except tion. Even though Mohawk communities have concentrated on developing and administering bilingual and immersion programs in their children's elementary and secondary school programs for the past 30 years, fluency in the language is still declining in our territories.

A national language survey launched by the Assembly of First Nations in 1992 found that only 4 of the 16 remaining Aboriginal languages in Canada have a reasonable chance of surviving over the next century (Kirkness, 1998). The four potentially surviving languages included Cree, Inuktitut, Dakota, and Ojibwa; the Mohawk language was not listed as a language destined for survival. However, as a means to revitalize the use of the Mohawk language in the territories, many parents, educators, and community leaders agree that drastic measures need to be taken in order to revive the language. Many see "immersion programming" as the prime drastic measure. Very recently, within the past 15 years, Mohawk communities have become increasingly involved in designing and developing adult immersion programs as one method of language restoration.

At an Iroquois Language Conference held in 1997 at Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Territory in upper New York State (see map at front of issue), participants from the Six Nations of the Confederacy gathered to discuss the state of our heritage languages. It was very unsettling to realize just how close to death our language is. As statistics prepared from the Conference would indicate, in the Mohawk Nation less than 10% of its populace of an estimated 35,000 people are fluent speakers (Kanatsiohareke Newsletter, 1998). It is not difficult therefore to understand why all Mohawk communities are experiencing a shortage of fluent adult speakers and a noticeable declining use of the language. It is imperative that each Mohawk community takes on the responsibility to revive, rejuvenate and restore our heritage language.

Like other Mohawk communities, Mohawk as a second language has been offered at the elementary school in my home community of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory for the past 30 years, but the language is still rapidly disappearing from use. The on-reserve population of Tyendinaga is approximately 2,800 and in 1985 it was estimated that fewer than 10% of the people were fluent speakers of Mohawk (Corbiere, Freeman, Lazore, & Stairs, 1995). Today, there is an estimated 0.23% of the population who are fluent speakers; the language in Tyendinaga remains on the verge of extinction (Maracle, 2001).