Guest speaker: Tahohtharátye Joe Brant (Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Center)

Our department is delighted to welcome Tahohtharátye Joe Brant (Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Center). He is an educator and community leader in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory heavily involved in the core of Indigenous cultural practice, and also working in language revitalization. A graduate of the M.Ed. program at the University of Victoria, he has taught at every level from elementary school to university, and conducts ethnographic work on L1 speakers of Mohawk. His talk, "Ratiwennókwas (They are Pulling the Words out of the Water)", will be taking place at 3:00 PM in SS 560A.

'Ratiwennókwas' has centred on researching language acquisition and documentation methodologies as part of a SSHRC-funded project partnership between Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Center in Tyendinaga and NEȾOLṈEW̱, led by Dr. Onowa McIvor and Dr. Peter Jacobs through the University of Victoria. Ratiwennókwas literally translates to English as 'they are pulling the words out of the water'. This title correlates with the project goals of documenting, retaining, activating, and transmitting Kanyen'kéha first-language speaker data that may have otherwise been lost 'down the river' forever. Ratiwennókwas gatherins capture invaluable audio and video recordings of first-language Kanyen'kéha speakers and help produce authentic second-language learning resources. This presentation will share the process of activating first-language speaker data and its impact on Kanyen'kéha learning. Audio and video recordings from the Ratiwennókwas are being edited and transcribed to create authentic materials and interactive language-learning activities on a range of topics. Some examples of the topics captured in Ratiwennókwas are: introducing, apologizing, condoling, consoling, offering help, promising, cancelling, defending, thanking and saying goodbye. For each of these topics, a range of levels of speech are explored by first-language speakers, for example condoling a child on the loss of a pet vs. condoling an elderly person on the loss of a family member. Eliciting this language ensures that learners have access to language for a range of emotional states and levels of formal and casual speech. The process and products documented throughout the Ratiwennókwas project are increasingly important in Mohawk Nation communities such as Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory where there are no longer adult first-language fluent Mohawk speakers. As the population of first-language Indigenous speakers continues to decline internationally, the documentation, activation, and transmission of authentic second-language learning material is crucial in maintaining Indigenous languages' cultural and linguistic integrity.