This 35-year-old Six Nations language immersion school in Ontario still doesn't have a home of its own
CBC
Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo Private School, a language immersion school on Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, has been operating from the second floor of the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena for over a decade.
It is the only school in Canada that offers Cayuga and Mohawk languages, both of which are critically endangered, from kindergarten through Grade 12.
As first-language speakers of Mohawk and Cayuga continue to pass away, the push for Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo to have an adequate space to educate its students is urgent, say members of the school's board.
According to language experts on Six Nations, there are fewer than 1,000 native speakers of Mohawk and approximately 30 people who speak Cayuga left in the world, and some of them live in Six Nations. They understand that their teachings, ceremonies and stewardship to the land are all embedded within the languages. Thus, saving them is intrinsic to maintaining Haudenosaunee culture and identity.
"[Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo] will restore what was lost through the system of residential schools in Canada," said Ruby Jacobs, the school's board chair.
Many children were taken from Six Nations over the years and sent to the Mohawk Institute in nearby Brantford that was once Canada's longest-running residential school. Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo — which translates to good- or nice-sounding words — is effectively undoing much of the damage residential schools did to Indigenous people.
"Residential school syndrome is still happening today, in my opinion," Jacobs said, referring to the impact that displacement has had on communities and emphasizing the importance of schools like Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo.
Yet, on the federal government's list of Indigenous schools on reserves to be built or repaired, Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo ranks 21st out of 40 schools in Ontario alone.
According to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), the main federal department that approves funding for these schools through the government's Capital Facilities and Maintenance Program, priority sequence is determined by several factors: health and safety; overcrowding; access to other educational facilities; and design requirements.
Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo's administrators say the school easily meets those requirements. They have also prepared a report that lays out its case for funding, finalized design plans and continue to seek out other funding opportunities, from private donors and government.
The school currently receives core funding from ISC that covers operating costs and staff salaries. However, according to school administrators, the wages fall below those for the average Ontario teacher.
They are now asking for an estimated $15 million to $20 million to build a space of its own, which would include a gymnasium, Longhouse, library, a space for elders, a wing for nine primary and grade school classrooms, and a separate wing for six high school classrooms.
The proposed design would allow for a significantly greater number of students, an increase from its current 125.
Still, they wait.
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.