A family legacy at Ratiwennahní:rats

It’s been more than a decade since Martin Akwiranoron Loft graduated from Kanien’kéha Ratiwennahní:rats, but his daughter, Carlee Kahonwinéhtha Loft still remembers quizzing him on his Mohawk vocabulary on the way to school.

“It was easy things, like cat, dog, your numbers. But all those things stuck with me, and it meant a lot to me, because it was all I knew for a long time,” Kahonwinéhtha said.

Now, the family is proud to add another Ratiwennahní:rats graduate to its ranks, with Kahonwinéhtha celebrating her own graduation from the two-year program at the start of this month.

In her graduation speech, given entirely in Kanien’kéha during a ceremony at the 207 Longhouse, she thanked her father for instilling in her the motivation to learn the language.

“I just wouldn’t have had that drive if it weren’t for him. He cultivated that in me from a young age, tending to it, inspiring me over the years,” she said. “It felt really good to give him his flowers, and to be able to say that in a room full of people.”

For Martin, seeing his daughter follow in his footsteps was emotional.

“I know how demanding the program can be, and I am so proud of her focus and determination,” he said.

Just as Kahonwinéhtha considers her father one of her biggest inspirations, Martin also left the graduation feeling inspired by his daughter’s dedication to the language and culture.

“I can only imagine her progress in 10 years. I’m sure our ancestors would be very proud of the young people making such an effort to revitalize Onkwehonwehnéha,” he said.

Being inspired by family and friends is a feeling that has marked the last two years for Kahonwinéhtha. Aside from her father, she’s also found herself looking up to her fellow Ratiwennahní:rats students, and graduation was emotional as the cohort prepared to bid goodbye to one another after so long studying together.

“I told them all, ‘You did really good, you did such a good job, look how far you’ve come,’ and I just feel that the kind of group we’ve cultivated is people who want to celebrate each other this much,” she said.

“We’ve all had moments where we catch each other being inspired by one another, and we’ve all said to each other, ‘Just in case you haven’t noticed it, I want you to know that I notice it, I can see all the improvement that you’ve made.’”

As Kahonwinéhtha reflects on her own progress, she’s been struck by how much confidence she’s found in the classroom. A key part of being a Ratiwennahní:rats student, she said, is accepting that sometimes you’re going to make mistakes while you work to acquire fluency.

“The hardest thing for me was getting accustomed to putting yourself out there and trying in front of everybody and sometimes just being flat out wrong. You have to be okay with that and not take it so harshly,” she said.

“In the first year, I’d say something out loud and I couldn’t say what I needed to say, and I would take it really hard, thinking ‘Oh, I’m not learning, I’m not getting it. There’s something wrong with me.’ But nobody’s expecting you to be perfect.”

Kahonwinéhtha also wants other community members to find their own path into language learning - for her, the language learning journey started small, with a beginner’s Kanien’kéha class led by Melvin Diabo at Native Montreal.

Starting with a beginner’s course helped her build her confidence to eventually pursue full immersion at Ratiwennahní:rats.

“He was so sweet and so kind and a really good teacher, and that made me realize I can do this. I had a lot of anxiety about getting things wrong in front of everybody, and in my mind that fear was so big that I didn’t think I could ever put myself in that situation,” she said. “But it helped me realize, it’s going to be stressful, but you can do it.”

Now, Kahonwinéhtha Loft has come full circle, and teaches her own beginner’s class at Native Montreal. She’ll be continuing that work alongside her role at the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO), which now has multiple Ratiwennahní:rats grads on staff.

“I’m really trying to focus on any spaces that I can just keep learning,” she said. “This is a lifelong journey.”

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