Tom's goal is to establish a boarding school at Kanatsiohareke in which the
students would be immersed in Iroquois culture and languages. At a meeting
last year, several Mohawk and Onondaga speakers, two clan mothers and a
faithkeeper attended the preliminary meeting. They are very excited about
the idea and are bringing the concept to the various tribes to determine if
the Six Nations Peoples feel this is needed or wanted.
Unlike tribal schools on other reservations, this would be a boarding
school so that the youngsters would be exposed to their own culture and
languages continuously. Tom estimates that only about 5000 of about 40,000
Mohawk are fluent in their language so that parents are unable to pass it
on to their children at home.
Anyone interested in knowing more about this remarkable community or how
they may help support this effort may contact me directly.
Sken:nen kenhak
Sandy