Nene aiohétston’ nahò:ten wakweientehtà:’on tsi náhe Onkwehonwehnéha shiwakahronkha’ónhátie’ nok shikherihonnién:ni

Date

2025

Authors

McComber, Kahrhó:wane Cory

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Abstract

This project is a self-reflection of my lifelong learning of the Kanien’kehá:ka language Kanien’kéha. This self-reflection speaks to lessons learned from my early childhood experiences in learning Kanien’kéha right at the time when our last generation of Mother Tongue speakers were beginning to start what is now shaping our current language reclamation/revitalization efforts. The primary focus of this work is my language reclamation journey. This journey took place in my adult years when I began learning Kanien’kéha’ in earnest in 1993 as a full-time volunteer in a Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten Kanien’kéha immersion program at the age of 18. It has continued to evolve as a father and husband, and on into what is currently the last nine consecutive years of teaching of Kanien’kéha to adults in a two-year immersion program setting. This work also touches upon lessons learned and solutions from my standpoint initially as a learner and later as a teacher. In describing my experience and learning, I reflect on how our language, culture and history mutually inform each other to complete the whole.

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Keywords

speaker, teacher, Kanien’kéha, childhood experiences, language revitalization, language reclamation, immersion program

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