Canada

Mohawk Language Preservation

Since 2020, the Paré Foundation supports a Mohawk language program at Kanehsatà:ke, Quebec. The multi-year adult immersion program is offered by the Mohawk Language Custodian Association of Kanehsatà:ke and is designed to ensure the ancestral language survives and flourishes.

Interest in the programme is growing because the graduates are speaking Mohawk (Kanien’kéha) in public and on the local radio station. Many are working in the community, at the Health Center, and teaching in the Nursery and Kindergarten immersion programme.

Kawisaienhne Albany is a recent graduate of the adult education program of the Mohawk Language Custodian Association. She is now working as a teacher’s aide and will graduate through the McGill teacher training program as a teacher this coming spring. During an interview this fall, she expressed how the language courses have helped her gain a deep understanding of her culture and language and how she hopes to see it go further. You can hear an excerpt from the interview with Kawisaienhne Albany here.

The Foundation is thrilled to see this programme helping to shape and support the community of Kanehsatà:ke.

CareJeunesse

Centre Amitié, Ressources, et Entraide pour la Jeunesse (C.A.R.E. Jeunesse) is a Quebec, bilingual, non-profit organization dedicated to providing a community and a voice for youth leaving government care. Founded by alumni of care who have experienced the system first hand, the organization aims to assist youth after they leave care. The Paré Foundation is offering scholarships to two students who need support to continue their education:

• Shanice is a student at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, studying Health Sciences. She hopes to become a nurse practitioner and would like to eventually work in Northern Quebec.

• Elijah has transferred from the Urban Studies program at Concordia University and enrolled in the Bachelor of Social Work program at McGill. He hopes to enter the combined law and social work graduate program once he finishes his bachelor’s.