Program helps families bring their children up speaking Kanien'kha

Iethiiehi:rons means 'we raise them'in Kanien'kha(Mohawk language)and is the name of a project that supports parents raising their children withKanien'khaas their first language.

Four familiesjust completed the first year of thepilot program.

Taiawentn:ti Chelsea Sunday,who is from Akwesasne, on the Ontario-Quebec-New York state border,is also co-founder of Ionkwahronkha'onhtie' (We're becoming fluent), an adult language program.

She and her co-foundersKaronhiistha Shea Sky and Kaienkwinehtha Ransomwanted to create a space for language learners to continue their language journey outside of Kanien'kha immersion programs.

"All the first language speakers are dying and there's this panic, right?" she said.

"In communities, they've already experienced the loss of the last first language speaker and it's heartbreaking."

Sunday said this has created a sense of urgency and unease amonglanguage learners.

"We're now in a race against time to get the language as fast as you can and record everything you can," she said.

"My thought was, well, we can raise them too, right?"

This waswas the inspiration for Iethiiehi:rons.

She is raising her toddler as a first language speaker.

"He is picking it up and it's just crazy," she said.

"It feels like you go back in time, and you get to see what it was like for my grandmother's mother who raised her children in the language."

Learning together

Nihahsennaa Peters, who is Onondaga, Snipe Clan fromAkwesasne,is from an unbroken line of Kanien'kha speakers. He and his wife,IehsontenhaweElisha King are raising their son and baby on the wayin the language.

King said herdecision to learn Kanien'kha so she could pass it on to her children was an easy one.She is currently enrolled in:se Tsi Tew:ton adult immersion programin Akwesasne.

"We decided that it was really important that he be given as much language as possible," she said of her son.

"SoNihahsennaaspoke to him from the time he was in my belly until he was here, and after that he spoke to him 90 per cent in Kanien'kha."

They were homeschooling their five-year old sonwhen Peterswas offered a fellowship to be a part of Iethiiehi:rons.

"I was so blown away that there's even like an opportunity like this," he said.

Some of the families in Iethiiehi:rons were already involved in language revitalization. Other families were chosen to participate because they had babies on the way.

"Our focus is on mothers of new babies because that is who needs the most support and the new babies are in their prime time for language acquisition," said Sunday.

Families meetregularly

One or both parents must be advanced-level Kanien'kha speakers and be able to converse easily while discussing complex subjectmatters. The families were encouraged to interact withrelatives who are also first language speakers to preserve the family's unique dialect throughnatural language transmission.

Existing Kanien'kha resources from surrounding Kanien'keh:ka (Mohawk) communities were used, such as books, flash cards and language videos. The families also created their own resources as part of their role as a language fellow.

Families in the programmeet regularly to plan their calendars, brainstorm seasonal activities, and make resources. If they plan to spend a day in the sugar bush, tapping maple trees, the families will determine what vocabulary will be needed for the day based on their child's engagement and resources would be created for this.

Iethiiehi:rons is able to provide someparents with fellowshipsfunded in partthroughCanadian Heritage and Ontario Trillium Foundation grants as well as donations.

The program will continue next year, refining it based on parents' feedback. Sunday said they hope to bring in new moms and support them over the next couple years based on funding available.

"You need to engage in conversation if you want your fluency to increase," said Sunday.

"All the people I always wanted to speak to are all gone unfortunately, but it's created this connection with them even though they're not here."