Indigenous language school on Six Nations ‘will finally have a home’

After years of waiting, the only school in Canada offering Cayuga and Mohawk language immersion to students from kindergarten to Grade 12 will finally get a home of its own.

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For more than a decade, Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo Private School on Six Nations of the Grand River has operated from the second floor of the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Ohsweken.

Limited space inside the arena means capping enrollment at around 125 students, despite rising demand among youth and families on the reserve for instruction in the traditional Haudenosaunee languages, both of which are considered at risk of extinction due to the dwindling number of native speakers.

Elected council has applied to Ottawa numerous times for funding to build a dedicated space for the school, to no avail.

At the Aug. 13 general council meeting, Six Nations CEO Nathan Wright announced council has decided to go it alone by borrowing the needed funds.

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“Council has directed me to seek a loan to complete the construction of that building,” Wright said, noting a feasibility study completed by the school pegged the amount still outstanding at $23 million.

“We will be seeking an Indigenous-preferred loan, through a number of different avenues, for that amount, with a one per cent interest rate attached to that,” Wright said.

Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo board chair Ruby Jacobs shared her excitement at the news in a statement sent to The Spectator.

“Forty years of hardship and disappointments has finally come to an end,” Jacobs said. “Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo will finally have a home.”

The private school opened in 1986, with the program expanded for high school students in 1995. Teachers follow the provincial curriculum while foregrounding Haudenosaunee values, traditions and cultural teachings, with the goal of instilling respect for the environment and pride in being Haudenosaunee.

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“Our name reflects our mandate,” says the school’s website.

“The two words — Kawenni:io in the Mohawk language, and Gaweni:yo in the Cayuga language — mean ‘good-sounding words.’”

The school community has already raised more than $3 million toward its goal of a new home.

In his statement, Jacobs thanked elected council and the Six Nations community for their support “along the way.”

She credited the students, families, staff, alumni and founders of the school “for believing in the value and importance of the education program which preserves the Hodinosoni language and culture to make our community and world a better place.”

JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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