Education, Grad Studies, Uncategorized, Walking About, Work

WSCLA Conference (McGill University)

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My colleague Kahtehrón:ni Stacey and I were honoured to be invited to co-present at the Workshop on Structure & Consistency in Languages of the America’s (WSCLA) conference at McGill University on Friday April 28, 2023. Our talk featured our family stories, personal language learning journeys, and a recap of the efforts made in Kahnawà:ke in language reclamation for over fifty years.

REFLECTION, RESISTANCE, & RESILIENCE: The past, present, and future of Indigenous language reclamation efforts in Kahnawà:ke

I am presently in the analysis stage of my doctoral research. I briefly discussed one of the themes that I am exploring in my research, language – which includes: language loss/shift as a result of Indian Day Schools, impacts of Indian Day Schools on language & cultural identity transmission, and language reclamation as a healing process from multigenerational trauma.

Kahtehrón:ni spoke about her important work exploring new pedagogical tools for advanced second language learners, specifically Haudenosaunee women. This included a structural approach (lexical expansion & grammar refinement) and a communicative approach (kin focused communication & oral tradition). This is a promising and exciting framework for Rotinonhsión:ni advanced language pedagogy!

Niawenhkó:wa to the organizers, student volunteers, and attendees. We had many great questions and discussion following our presentation. It was truly a pleasure to have so many community members and scholars engaged in discussions about Onkwehonwehnéha 🙂

*Photo courtesy of Professor Jessica Coon, Linguistics McGill University.

~ Wahéhshon

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Education, Grad Studies, Walking About, Work

Language Policy & Planning Conference 2022

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My colleague Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey and I were invited to do a workshop at the Language Policy Planning conference at McGill University today – August 25, 2022.

This was the first hybrid conference presentation that I participated in. Fortunately, the conference was well organized and the folks on hand managed the technical side of things. The title of the workshop was:

Language policy, activism & strategic planning: over fifty years of Indigenous language reclamation efforts in Kahnawà:ke

Our talk including the following key things:

  • Our backgrounds and community
  • An overview of our doctoral research
  • Sharing our learning journey (as second-second language learners of Kanien’kéha)
  • A brief history of language reclamation efforts in Kahnawà:ke
  • Language revitalization projects at the Kahnawà:ke Education Center that we have worked on (Skátne Enionkwaio’ten & NEȾOLṈEW̱)

We appreciated how enthusiastic and engaged participants were with what we shared. We were surprised to be presented with generous gifts at the end. This was definitely one of my favorite speaking events this year.

Niawenhkó:wa to Mela & her team for inviting us and for treating us with great care and respect.

Wahéhshon Shiann Whitebean & Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey
Photo courtesy of Bianca Gonzalez – McGill University.
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Uncategorized

SILS27 Conference Presentation

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Very excited to be co-presenting at this years Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium #SILS27 ! My team will be presenting on the Kahnawà:ke Education Center’s NEȾOLṈEW̱ project which focuses on supporting in-service immersion teachers.

Title: Defining the role of an Indigenous language teacher coach

Description: The Kahnawake Education Center is carrying out a study that looks to define the role and impacts of an Indigenous language teacher coach. The project is focused on supporting our immersion teachers to develop their professional capacities in three areas: 1)teaching pedagogy, 2)cultural knowledge and 3)language proficiency. This will lead to the development of a strong professional development plan for all our in-service Kanien’keha immersion teachers. The project is part of the NETOLNEW Partnership Grant involving 9 communities across Canada, headed by Indigenous scholars Onowa McIvor & Peter Jacobs.

My co-presenters are Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey & Tsohahí:io Lauren Deom

Monday June 14, 2021 @2:15 pm (eastern) – sessions will be recorded

Register online: https://sils27.ca/

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Education, Work

NETOLNEW Project

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I am a full-time PhD student and a mother of three so I usually work part-time. I know a few wonder women who work full-time while doing full-time studies but that is too much for me with my health and workout regimen. This month I started a new part-time job for the Kahnawà:ke Education Center (KEC) as an Educational Research Assistant on the NETOLNEW Indigenous language revitalization project.

Kahnawà:ke has a long history of language revitalization going back about fifty years. Our community is often looked at as a model of Indigenous language revitalization efforts. From 2017 to 2018, I worked on Skátne Enionkwaió’ten with Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey and a team of community members to create a five-year strategic plan for language revitalization in Kahnawà:ke. It was wonderful and rewarding work (and challenging) but when my contract ended, I had to focus on completing my Master’s at Concordia University (which I did in June 2019).

This time around, the KEC is partnering with NETOLNEW to focus on adult second language learners (the “missing generation”). Our work will focus on supporting Karonhianónhnha Immersion School staff & teachers. I was excited at this new opportunity for the KEC to further some of the goals that were set in the language plan with Skátne Enionkwaió’ten. Walking the talk!! We also have two new project facilitators for Skátne Enionkwaió’ten but I remain connected to the project as a member of the advisory committee and the web developer/webmaster for the project website that I created. I hoped that by creating a website for the Skátne Eionkwaió’ten language plan that we would help inform other communities attempting to take a similar approach to language revitalization.

One way or another, I end up working in language & culture revitalization. I am so thankful to have this chance to continue doing very meaningful work in my home community. It has helped me to grow and sparked some new ideas for my future work. That’s all for now, looking forward to this new role 🙂

Skennenhkó:wa,

Wahéhshon – “She Walks About”

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