STORIES / Okara’shòn:’a
The kind of work I do
My last iron job was in 2004 in Sorel. That was when I was having problems with my lower hernia. I had to have surgery.
A little bit of trouble
Most of the children in immersion came from English speaking families, and there were people out there with second language, but few. So, we had to be very strict in the school, that it was total immersion.
TV and radio
When I came into the world in 1957, Kahnawake had already gone through a lot of changes compared to my mom’s time. Back then, everybody spoke Mohawk.
It’s all in your language
If you hear things in our language, and you wonder, “Why do we say this?” The language teaches you. It’s got your history. It tells your present day, and will tell you tomorrow.
The great goodness is already here
The Great Law of Peace: that’s somebody’s mumbled up translation. Kaianere’kó:wa, that’s what we call it.
Three girls
I was at a meeting and decided to go out and stretch my legs. So I came around the corner of the house, and there was a sandbox there. This one particular family, they had all girls.
Kahnawake education centre
Kahnawake did a great thing, because in 1980 we established the Kahnawake Education Centre. We took control of our own curriculum and decided what would be taught in the schools.
