Kanien'kéha, Skátne Enionkwaió'ten, Work

Community Language Plan Coordinator, Skátne Enionkwaió’ten

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On April 26, 2018, our team based at the Kahnawà:ke Education Center working under the project title, Skátne Enionkwaió’ten “We will all work together” launched a five-year strategic plan for language revitalization in Kahnawà:ke. I have worked on this project since October 2017.

When Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey (the project leader) first contacted me about the project over a year ago, I was reluctant to take on work while studying full-time. The more she told me about the project, the more I understood how important this work is to keeping our language alive. In fact, she brought it up to me on three separate occasions and the third time, I visited her office to discuss the project and the role of the part-time Language Plan Coordinator in greater detail. I am so thankful that she kept me in mind and gave me this wonderful opportunity!

Our team hosted two language planning sessions in Kahnawà:ke: Thursday November 23, 2017 and Thursday January 18, 2018. I developed the planning documents, the agenda, and the topics based on the discussion and approval of our steering committee members. As is the case in many collaborative community projects, the timeline that was set in the project/grant work-plan was a gross underestimation. In response, I allotted additional time to groups to continue working on their planning documents for weeks after the planning sessions had concluded. This did mean I had to follow up and prompt the groups to submit their draft plans.

My job is essentially a project coordinator position. This means that while I have support and guidance from a team (such as the Project Leader, my co-workers, the steering committee, and volunteers), I do most of the organizing and writing work on my own. I don’t mind this part of it, I am self-motivated and organized. I did put a lot of pressure on myself though, mostly due to what I imagined were the expectations of Kahnawa’kehró:non. There were many ways that the language plan could have been written and presented to the community. Kahtehrón:ni and I also had many discussions about how to present the plan, what was important to include in our 40 page (maximum) document, and how to ensure it was accessible to community. The push to meet deadlines mixed with anticipation for completion cost me many nights of sleep. But it was all worth it!!

I asked Kahtehrón:ni to write the preamble, history, and speakers bios. She has had many years of experience working in language revitalization and this initiative was a dream of hers. Of course, she did a beautiful job with the introductory section of the plan and set the tone for it. I wrote the other pages and did the layout in the first draft. Really, this was more like assembling thoughts, words, and ideas of the community members that attended and provided feedback. I did my best to capture the essence of what each language program, school, or organization was about. Throughout the process, every group had input on their page down to the photos they supplied and the wording of their page.

The translation and graphic design were more time-consuming than we imagined. I brought Kaia’titáhkhe sections of my draft (in English) and she would hand-write the translations. I would then take them to Akwiratékha to type and edit. When I received the typed pages, I inserted the content into my draft so that the layout matched the English version. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for our graphic artist Cheryl to insert the translated text into the Kanien’kéha document. We had to go through this process under intense pressure to meet the print deadline for the launch celebration. As we approached the deadline, our entire team working on the language plan (Kaia’titáhkhe, Akwiratékha, Cheryl and I) worked all-hours to submit the final versions on time. We knew that there would be things missed in the editing but it was more important to launch the plan at the end of April during cultural awareness month.

The result of this project is a beautiful 80 page bilingual language plan that we are all very proud of! I am the only person that read every document, comment, and suggestion collected throughout this process. It is impossible to capture it all in writing but I proposed building a website to share more of the content with the community (I should not be the only one to read those words!). At our launch celebration, we also announced our new website. I will continue to manage the Facebook page and the website on a volunteer basis to provide updates and events that come out of Skátne Enionkwaió’ten.

There are many people to thank who supported me and shared their knowledge with me over the past eight months. I will come back to that as I near the end of my position. I am incredibly humbled by the strength and determination of our people. I am thankful for the teachers and speakers that worked their entire lives to get us to this point. Without you all, we wouldn’t even have a chance and now we have a plan!! Kwanorónhkhwa.

 

~Wahéhshon

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Kanien'kéha, Skátne Enionkwaió'ten, Walking About, Work

Skátne Enionkwaió’ten – Why I’ve been so quiet!!

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So it’s been difficult to add the posts and pages that I have planned for she walks about but I have been busy!

I am currently the Skátne Enionkwaió’ten Language Plan Coordinator at the Kahnawà:ke Education Center. Skátne Enionkwaió’ten’ means, “we all will work together”. We are initiating Kahnawà:ke’s first 5-year strategic plan for language revitalization. I signed on for a six month contract which was recently extended until mid-June. I work 20 hours per week (okay, I admit to going over those hours) and study full-time at Concordia while raising three kids.

My whole heart is in the strategic planning initiative we have launched. Our language Onkwehonwehnéha or Kanien’kéha is an endangered Indigenous language. I am a second language speaker (ACTFL high-intermediate) after studying the language for years including a two-year adult immersion program called Kanien’kéha Ratiwennahní:rats in Kahnawà:ke.

When the language plan and website launch this Thursday April 26, 2018, everyone will understand what I have been working on! I plan to write about the process and how it has impacted me. I can’t wait to hold that plan in my hands and know that I have been part of something really meaningful and important – to help revitalize our beautiful language.

I will link my posts to our Skátne Enionkwaió’ten website after the launch later this week!!!

 

~Wahéhshon

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Concordia U, Solidarity Food Movement

Launching Solidarity Food Movement at Concordia’s Hive!

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It takes some courage to present an idea to a business or organization. I was nervous to approach Concordia’s Hive Café Solidarity Cooperative but I tracked down the coordinator at the time (Jessica Cabana) and she made time out of her busy schedule to meet with me.

Jess and I met for the first time at the Hive’s downtown location. It wasn’t too busy that day and we sat at a small table in the café. I introduced myself and explained that I was in Satoshi’s class, interested in launching a social food economy on campus. I gave Jess a rundown of my idea and the background. She loved it! She said that at one time there was talk of starting something similar at the Hive to offer “solidarity food” to community members somehow. At that time I didn’t have a solid name for the initiative. I later decided that I would call it Solidarity Food Movement.

Through my meetings with Jess, I learned a lot about her work on campus and the time she invested in our social food economy. We discussed the details for SFM, everything from what food items are reasonable to offer and what the process would be for folks to buy items for someone to enjoy later. I planned to use cards that could be left at the cash and put up on the Hive’s chalkboard when those items were available. [We started off with that system but ran out of cards! The Hive staff ended up just using the board and I stuck with it moving forward]

Jess and I met a few times to talk through the process of instituting an initiative like this at the Hive. Jess offered to help me write a proposal which would have to be presented to the Hive members. The proposal would have to pass in a vote in order to be implemented at the Hive. Jess and I worked on the google doc for a few weeks and completed it in time for a Hive members meeting. I could not attend that meeting so Jess had to advocate for the proposal. It passed!

We set the launch date for January 2017 (thinking it was too late in the fall to launch something new considering that the Hive closes in the summer).

At this point, I was known on campus primarily for organizing and student leadership related to the First Peoples Studies Program and Indigenous engagement initiatives on campus. I was excited to work on something different but I was also tired of seeing my face everywhere on campus (lots of media and public attention in those days) so I kept the launch quiet. I spread news of it through word-of-mouth but for the most part, people who frequented the Hive took notice and started accessing the program. It took a while at first but it’s going well!

Solidarity Food Movement is not a vanity project or something I did for any reason other than wanting to make a small contribution to an already changing and inspiring social food movement. I call it a ‘movement’ because once you put in motion it just keeps going. I can’t wait to see how/if/when this movement is going to grow!

Skennenhkó:wa,

~ Wahéhshon

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Concordia U, Education, Solidarity Food Movement

Back Story (Solidarity Food Movement)

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So what are the backstories that led to the development of Solidarity Food Movement?

Students facing food insecurity! Here’s one story that started me on this path. It happened a few semesters before I took Satoshi’s class.

During my first year as an undergrad at Concordia, I had to do group work for an anthropology course. There were three of us in our group and we had to do a project on a linguistic minorities in the Montreal area. My group met on several occasions on campus and occasionally at a cafe or restaurant. I noticed that one of my group members never ordered anything. One time, our meeting on campus was taking longer than we planned and this same group member got irritable and rushed things to leave. She was usually pretty friendly and into our work so it struck me as odd.

The next time we met it was a lunch meeting at The Green Panther (La Panthère Verte), a restaurant beside Concordia that serves fresh vegan food. Again, the same group member did not order anything so I offered (actually, I insisted) to treat her to lunch. By this time, we knew each other better and I said as delicately as I could that I noticed she never ordered (or ate) anything at our meetings. She told me the following details about her life with flushed cheeks and eyes lowered: that she is an out-of-province student so her tuition is more expensive (than students from Quebec) and since she does not speak French, she had difficulty finding work here. She returns home out west each summer to work but saves that money for her rent and living expenses. Her family cannot afford to help her out. Trouble was, she only had enough left to pay her rent for the rest of the semester (and little or no money for food). She admitted that she was embarrassed about how she acted the last time we met but she was stressed about leaving to get in line for the People’s Potato because many days that is the only meal she has.

I was deeply disturbed by this but I knew how hard it was for her to admit. I quietly bought extra food and before we left the restaurant and offered it to her to take home. She nearly cried from the mix of embarrassment and gratitude. After that, I was on a mission to find out what resources there were for students facing food insecurity. I knew about the people’s potato but what else was there?

Here is what I found out: A student or community member could get lunch from the People’s Potato at downtown Concordia on weekdays for a donation or for free if needed. They also gave out groceries during exam weeks and special occasions. (Shortly after this, the Hive Free Lunch at Loyola also started). There was also an emergency food fund (grocery voucher) at the Multi-Faith and Spirituality Center and a $2.00 vegan meal at Mother Hubbard’s on Thursday nights. I made a list of all of the free and affordable food resources at Concordia and nearby.

[Here is a list of affordable food at/near Concordia: https://www.concordia.ca/students/health/topics/nutrition/affordable-food-resourcesinmontreal.html]

I gave the list to my classmate the next time I saw her and nearly begged her to let me know if she ever needed help again. The thing was, the shame she felt was obvious and I knew she was not the kind of person who would “accept charity” from others. I hoped that the resources I gave her would help and I am pretty sure she followed up on them. I also left a copy of the list with the Aboriginal Student Resource Center. The ASRC has a community kitchen that offers tea, coffee, snacks, and occasional meals to students for free. I knew from speaking to some of the students that they truly appreciated it and some relied on it. Although my classmate wasn’t from the center (and not Indigenous), I thought it might help other students to know what kind of support is out there.

This wasn’t the first time I knew people facing food insecurity (hunger, poverty) and it wouldn’t be the last time I heard stories like this from students. I also recalled my own experiences with poverty in my childhood and I knew the shame of it all too well. I wished there was something more I could do but I revisited these thoughts later on.

~ Wahéhshon

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