Indigenous Network McGill

On Thursday August 19, Ionkwahronkha’onhátie’ hosted a panel, Kanónhskon tewatewennaweiénstha’ (language learning in the home) with the support of ISCEI. The panel was in an immersion setting with limited English and was part of the final week in the Speaker Series, Owén:na Tewahthá:rahkw.

In the panel, they discussed some of the experiences of teaching language in the home. Panelists discussed the rewards and challenges that come with language learning, raising their children as first language speakers and their experiences as being both parent and teacher, with a Q/A period at the end.

See recordings and videos of the speaker series on Ionkwahronkha’onhátie’s Facebook Page.

On August 17th, Ionkwahronkha’onhátie’ in collaboration with ISCEI is hosting a panel discussing the different ways in which second language speakers acquired proficiency in Kanien’kéha. Listen to the discussion about their language learning journeys, what they’ve done or are currently doing to become proficient L2 speakers. There will also be a Q/A period at the end of the panel.

Note, this panel will be in an immersive environment with limited English. If you are interested in listening in, you can register here.

Tsi niieioierà:ton aonsaiòn:ronke’ – 17 shískare ne Seskéha, 2 nitiohwistà:’e

*aóskon onkwehonwehnéha*

Enhontá:ti/Panelists: Ryan Decaire (moderator), Kaienkwinehtha Ransom, Wenhni’tí:io Will Gareau tánon’ Jock Hill  

Kenh nón:we entewarihwaka’én:ion tsi na’teiohtánion tsi ronahronkhà:’on ne tekeníhaton raotiwén:na. Sheiatahónhsatat tsi shatiia’tátshon enthonthró:ri’ tsi na’tehonatohétston tsi ronahronkhà:’on, tsi nihotiié:ren ne ohén:ton, tánon’ tsi nihatiiéhrha nòn:wa. Nó:nen enwateweiennénta’ne’, enwate’shennaién:take ne thé:nen nahò:ten ahsherihwanón:tonhse’.

Through ISCEI, McGill students, staff, and faculty members are invited to apply for seed funding to support meetings and visits with Indigenous community organizations; bringing community members to McGill; experiential learning opportunities for students on and off campus; and other creative partnership opportunities for Indigenous community support on and off campus.

The deadline to apply for Fall Funding is September 15th. Students, staff and faculty can submit an application through our website, or directly apply here. Funding can be used within 12 months of the review date.

Click here to apply!

“Don’t forget that you’re a goose!” is a photovoice exhibition; a result of sharing circles held in April 2021 with members of the Indigenous community of Montréal/Tiohtià:ke who are from different Nations. The photos and their captions were proposed by the participants to fuel the conversations about their relations with the city of Montréal and in the city’s public spaces.

The objective is to integrate different perspectives to understand how to foster both Indigenous resurgence and the (re)negotiation of relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. This exhibition will eventually be presented in a public space in the city of Montréal.

Click here to view the online exhibition. 

The McGill Visual Arts Collection is committed to strengthening local, contemporary Indigenous art practices in Canada and is actively working to increase the diversity and visibility of Indigenous art – modern and contemporary – across all campuses.

The VAC has created an interactive map where you are able to navigate the various Indigenous art collections publicly displayed on campus.

Click here to access the map and learn more about VAC’s initiative. 

Terry Young will be joining ISCEI as Program Manager, starting full time in October.

The Project Manager supports and manages the research activities of the developing Institute by forging strong relationships and identifying opportunities for collaboration, both among McGill-based researchers, as well as in partnership with local Indigenous communities.

Terry will be facilitating research and relationship-building through regular event planning, supervision of ISCEI’s administrative coordinator, and development of initiatives, including the development of Indigenous Language Revitalization research and programming; Indigenous Elder-, Artist-, and Writer-in-Residence programs; and regular academic workshops and symposia.

Terry Young is Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and hails from Kingsclear First Nation located in New Brunswick. For the last 15 years, he’s resided on the Kanienkehaka Territory of Tiotake (Montreal) with his husband Justin Mahoney.

Young holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Thomas University, with a double major in Native Studies and Anthropology. He’s also received formal training on Community Planning and Development from Dalhousie University.

Both a pipe carrier for his people and a carrier of traditional Wolastoqew songs, Young has participated for many years in ceremonies with various Nations from all over Turtle Island. He is also a traditional ash basket maker, a craft he’s honed for more than 20 years.

Congratulations Terry!

Pick Your Path is an online career exploration and mentorship program for Indigenous youth happening from August 2nd to the 13th. Pick Your Path is a program developed by BRANCHES, with the goal to pique the interest of Indigenous students in education by offering an opportunity that gives exposure to various areas of study.

Pick Your Path! (PYP) is an online learning experience for Indigenous summer students between the ages of 16-25. BRANCHES will be providing students the opportunity to have a paid professional development and education experience from a distance. PYP students will meet weekly with an Indigenous post-secondary student mentor, with the program coordinator, and in a group setting. Additionally, students will attend online workshops and seminars led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals and professors.

To learn more about BRANCHES, click here!

On Thursday August 5th at 2pm, Sandra-Lynn Leclaire will be presenting “Reclaiming Haudenosaunee Archival Language Sources” in the panel series, Owén:na Tweathá:rakw.

Owén:na Tweathá:rakw is a panel series co-organized by ISCEI and Ionkwahronkha’onhátie’ with the goal of furthering knowledge and awareness about tools for language learning, transmission, and documentation, and identifying topics and tools to help language learners gain knowledge and skills in areas of interest in their language-learning paths.

More on Sandra-Lynn’s talk:

An important aspect of language revitalization that is often overlooked is the use of primary sources due to a lack of collaborative efforts and sharing of knowledge between linguists, historians, archivists, and Indigenous communities. One goal of my research is to provide Haudenosaunee community members with information about what Haudenosaunee language archival sources exist and how they can gain access to them. A large focus of my work has been on the manuscripts that French Jesuit missionaries worked on in the 1600s and early 1700s. With their advanced linguistic knowledge, they created and compiled both dictionaries and grammatical sketches. The work of the Jesuits and other Europeans is often seen as controversial, but these language documents have played a formative role in language revitalization. Primary source dictionaries and grammatical sketches can help us to comprehend historical changes in both Kanien’keha history and the Kanien’keha language.

If you are a second language speaker of Kanien’keha and would like to attend this talk, please email vanessa.racine2@mcgill.ca for more information.