A history of forced assimilation, colonial education, and cultural and linguistic oppression has resulted in the loss and endangerment of hundreds of Native languages, including the Mohawk language of the northeastern U.S. and Canada. It is estimated that only 5% of the population on the Akwesasne reservation are Mohawk speakers. In 1979 a significant effort to revitalize the Mohawk language began with the establishment of the Akwesasne Freedom School (AFS), a grassroots community-based cultural and language immersion program. No prior research or historical documentation of these efforts has been conducted regarding the AFS. This dissertation documents how the school was founded, how it has maintained itself without federal or state funding, and examines how the school has positively impacted its alumni, students, teachers, parents and staff. Through individual interviews, participant observations, and archival research this dissertation reveals the community's investments in and overall effects of this innovative language program on the Akwesasne community. I present the Akwesasne Freedom School as a model of Indigenous holistic education that incorporates traditional teachings, experiential methods, and language immersion. Alumni, parents, and teachers report that the school has helped them feel a strong sense of Mohawk identity. Many respondents reported that their involvement with the AFS helped them to return to the Longhouse, the traditional meeting and ceremonial place. Knowledge of the Mohawk language is only one aspect of Mohawk identity and several Mohawk values were identified in this study: respect, kinship, responsibility, cooperation, leadership, and stewardship. Ultimately, this study identifies what it means to be fully Mohawk. The Akwesasne Freedom School provides an opportunity for negotiating language and identity in a space designed to transcend historical colonization. The AFS serves as an exemplary model for educational self-determination and as a reminder to the Canadian and U.S. governments of tribal authority and sovereignty over the education of their children. Most importantly, students at the Akwesasne Freedom School are "Free to be Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk)."

abstract: The question of whether there has been an American Indian genocide has been contested, when genocide is defined according to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Yet, I argue that both social and cultural genocide of American Indians has had volatile consequences for both Native and non-Native peoples. Because of the contested nature of this genocide, American Indian Studies scholars contend that Indigenous people's experiences often get marginalized and reconstructed, relegating stories to the category oppression, rather than proof of genocide, which has created intellectual and social absences (Vizenor 2009). Other American Indian Studies scholars argue for reform within American Indian educational settings, where Indigenous nations use their values and traditions within curricula to combat national absences. Despite excellent work on American Indian education, scholars have not addressed the central questions of how such absences affect both Native and non-Native students, why those absences exist, and why the U.S. dialogue around genocide is a rhetoric of avoidance and erasure, once any comparison begins with other genocide victims. Without adequate analysis of both American Indian genocide and absences within curricula, particularly humanities courses such as literature, where stories about American Indians can have a prominent space, we undervalue their impact on America's past and present histories, as well as current knowledges and values. Erasure of American Indian presence affects both Native and non-Native youth. Many American Indians are traumatized and believe their tribe’s stories are not worthy of inclusion. As well many non-Natives are unaware of Indigenous experiences and often left with stereotypes rather than realities. A Haudenosaunee paradigm of Good Mind can re-situate how we think about the canon, literature, and the classroom. The Good Mind allows for a two-way path where ideas pass back and forth, respecting differences, rather than replacing those differences with one ideology. This path is meant to open minds to connections with others which are kind and loving and lead to peaceful relationships. Theorizing literary erasure and genocide of the mind through experiences from Native and non-Native students and teachers embodies the Good Mind. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2017

Titre de la page de titre additionnel: Ghost dancing at the Supreme Court of Canada : indigenous rights during the First quarter century of s.35.of Canada's Constitution Act, 1982. / Certains supposent que la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, donc la section 35(1) reconnait les droits existants des peuples autochtones, a complété la décolonisation du Canada. Par contre, malgré le passage d'un quart de siècle, plusieurs Autochtones estiment que la Cour suprême continue à nier l'existence de leurs droits. Cette étude examine cette problématique en formulant des définitions juridiques du « colonialisme » et du « post colonialisme ». Vu le remplacement de l'idéal de «la loi» comme «commande », promu par le juriste anglais John Austin au dernier siècle, par l'idéal du consensus populaire et démocratique, nous avons vécu une changement important dans le droit euro-canadien. Mais, selon la théorie des paradigmes de Thomas Kuhn, la continuation des anciennes habitudes est une partie normale du processus de changement, qui n'est jamais complète sans l'émergence de nouveaux modèles et procédures. Pour déterminer la situation de la Cour suprême du Canada par rapport au processus de décolonisation, la Partie I de cette étude examine le fonctionnement paradigmatique autant que le phénomène colonial, la décolonisation en droit international et le postcolonialisme pour identifier les indicateurs du paradigme colonial autant que le paradigme postcolonial. La Partie II adapte ce cadre analytique aux raisonnements de la Cour suprême du Canada concernant les droits autochtones protégés par l’article 35 (1) de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982. Cette double analyse coloniale/postcoloniale démontre la persistance des anciennes habitudes malgré la reconnaissance des idéaux postcoloniaux par la Cour. Les juges sont conscients des limites institutionnelles qui restreignent leur capacité de protéger les droits autochtones, mais plusieurs concepts qui structurent leur raisonnement perpétuent la dynamique coloniale. Une réflexion approfondie des juges, des praticiens et des peuples autochtones sur les problèmes qui découlent des changements paradigmatiques doit faciliter la tolérance mutuelle qui est un préalable aux ententes qui sont nécessaires selon les idéaux égalitaires qui sont partages par tous. / Many people believe that Canada became fully decolonized in 1982 with the "patriation" instituted by the Constitution Act, 1982, whose s.35 (1) explicitly recognized and affirmed "existing Aboriginal and treaty rights". Yet, a quarter century later, Indigenous critics continue to complain that their rights are being denied by the Supreme Court of Canada. This study has approached such questions by drawing on international law to establish legal definitions for "colonialism" and "postcolonialism". In this optic, it becomes clear that there has been a significant change in Euro-Canadian norms during the past century. Colonial concepts, like the English jurist John Austin's definition of "law" as "command" have been superseded by the ideal of informed, popular consent, yet modes of conduct that are consistent with the colonial paradigm persist. According to Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions this is predictable because changes from one paradigm to another are normally characterized by intensified assertions of the impugned orthodoxy and no change is complete until new models and procedures have emerged to replace established habits. In order to determine where the Supreme Court of Canada actually stands in relation to the decolonization process, Part I of this study examines the nature of paradigmatic function, including the metaphoric construction of language. It then reviews the colonial phenomenon, the emergence of decolonization in international law and postcolonialism to define the colonial and postcolonial paradigms in terms of specific indicia that can be used to classify institutional performance. Part II adapts this analytical framework to the specific circumstances of judicial decision making and applies it to the reasoning of over 60 Supreme Court of Canada cases concerned with section 35 (1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. This dual colonial/postcolonial analysis makes it possible to identify some of the ways in which colonial metaphors and modes of thought have persisted during the past quarter century despite the Court's firm commitment to postcolonial ideals. Though the judges themselves are aware of some of the institutional limitations that constrict their ability to validate Indigenous rights, many of the concepts that structure their reasoning induce them to perpetuate the colonial paradigm. Further reflection on the structure of our rational processes and on the problems predictably associated with paradigm change might make it easier for judges, practitioners and Indigenous peoples to develop the agreements that are necessary to implement the egalitarian ideals ascribed to by all.

Certains supposent que la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, donc la section 35(1) reconnait les droits existants des peuples autochtones, a complété la décolonisation du Canada. Par contre, malgré le passage d'un quart de siècle, plusieurs Autochtones estiment que la Cour suprême continue à nier l'existence de leurs droits. Cette étude examine cette problématique en formulant des définitions juridiques du « colonialisme » et du « post colonialisme ». Vu le remplacement de l'idéal de «la loi» comme «commande », promu par le juriste anglais John Austin au dernier siècle, par l'idéal du consensus populaire et démocratique, nous avons vécu une changement important dans le droit euro-canadien. Mais, selon la théorie des paradigmes de Thomas Kuhn, la continuation des anciennes habitudes est une partie normale du processus de changement, qui n'est jamais complète sans l'émergence de nouveaux modèles et procédures. Pour déterminer la situation de la Cour suprême du Canada par rapport au processus de décolonisation, la Partie I de cette étude examine le fonctionnement paradigmatique autant que le phénomène colonial, la décolonisation en droit international et le postcolonialisme pour identifier les indicateurs du paradigme colonial autant que le paradigme postcolonial. La Partie II adapte ce cadre analytique aux raisonnements de la Cour suprême du Canada concernant les droits autochtones protégés par l’article 35 (1) de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982. Cette double analyse coloniale/postcoloniale démontre la persistance des anciennes habitudes malgré la reconnaissance des idéaux postcoloniaux par la Cour. Les juges sont conscients des limites institutionnelles qui restreignent leur capacité de protéger les droits autochtones, mais plusieurs concepts qui structurent leur raisonnement perpétuent la dynamique coloniale. Une réflexion approfondie des juges, des praticiens et des peuples autochtones sur les problèmes qui découlent des changements paradigmatiques doit faciliter la tolérance mutuelle qui est un préalable aux ententes qui sont nécessaires selon les idéaux égalitaires qui sont partages par tous. / Many people believe that Canada became fully decolonized in 1982 with the "patriation" instituted by the Constitution Act, 1982, whose s.35 (1) explicitly recognized and affirmed "existing Aboriginal and treaty rights". Yet, a quarter century later, Indigenous critics continue to complain that their rights are being denied by the Supreme Court of Canada. This study has approached such questions by drawing on international law to establish legal definitions for "colonialism" and "postcolonialism". In this optic, it becomes clear that there has been a significant change in Euro-Canadian norms during the past century. Colonial concepts, like the English jurist John Austin's definition of "law" as "command" have been superseded by the ideal of informed, popular consent, yet modes of conduct that are consistent with the colonial paradigm persist. According to Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions this is predictable because changes from one paradigm to another are normally characterized by intensified assertions of the impugned orthodoxy and no change is complete until new models and procedures have emerged to replace established habits. In order to determine where the Supreme Court of Canada actually stands in relation to the decolonization process, Part I of this study examines the nature of paradigmatic function, including the metaphoric construction of language. It then reviews the colonial phenomenon, the emergence of decolonization in international law and postcolonialism to define the colonial and postcolonial paradigms in terms of specific indicia that can be used to classify institutional performance. Part II adapts this analytical framework to the specific circumstances of judicial decision making and applies it to the reasoning of over 60 Supreme Court of Canada cases concerned with section 35 (1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. This dual colonial/postcolonial analysis makes it possible to identify some of the ways in which colonial metaphors and modes of thought have persisted during the past quarter century despite the Court's firm commitment to postcolonial ideals. Though the judges themselves are aware of some of the institutional limitations that constrict their ability to validate Indigenous rights, many of the concepts that structure their reasoning induce them to perpetuate the colonial paradigm. Further reflection on the structure of our rational processes and on the problems predictably associated with paradigm change might make it easier for judges, practitioners and Indigenous peoples to develop the agreements that are necessary to implement the egalitarian ideals ascribed to by all. / Titre de la page de titre additionnel: Ghost dancing at the Supreme Court of Canada : indigenous rights during the First quarter century of s.35.of Canada's Constitution Act, 1982.

This study examines Haudenosaunee foodways in the Great Lakes Region between the early seventeenth century and the mid to late eighteenth century. The study is divided into two parts. First, the Creation Story is explored as it transmits the origin of the Three Sisters, a cropping system of inter-planted corn, beans and squash. The teachings of the Three Sisters highlights the importance of polyculture and sustainability. Conversely, a Westerners’ scientific account of how the Three Sisters came to be farmed together is studied. The independent pathways of the corn, beans and squash is examined as they arrived in New York State from the Mexico highlands. Recent findings show the Three Sisters were adopted independently in eastern North America beginning around A.D. 1300. They were grown together in some locations on a regular basis. The adoption of the polycultural complex of the Three Sisters was gradual and took place approximately 700 years ago as each of the crops adjusted to the climate and new surroundings. Secondly, the relationship between food, specifically the Three Sisters and acculturative change are examined pre-and-post contact. Acculturative change occurs when two independent cultures comes into contact with one another. The degree of influence is not equal as one culture can be absorbed, shaped or influenced more strongly by the other culture. The Haudenosaunee culture underwent acculturative change because the fur trade economy affected their foodways due to the influx of European goods such as the brass kettle and encroachment on their land and hunting grounds. The Haudenosaunee retained the core of their cultural beliefs and cultural practices because they made decisions, specifically their selection of goods and agricultural practices, as an extension of their cultural beliefs. Acculturative change resulted in a more monocropped and creolized agricultural system, usage of draft animals, fruit orchards and the plow. This study lies at the intersection of ethnohistory and food history. This study will serve as a tool to analyze and understand Haudenosaunee historical experiences from a First Nations cultural perspective. / Graduate / 2017-08-21

“Holding Hands With Wampum” weaves a story of disparate peoples who came together to create a new North American World over a period of more than five centuries. The Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy conceptualized their universe according to the kaswentha ethic and above all treasured autonomy on local, national, and confederate scales. “Holding Hands With Wampum” traces the spiritual foundations of this Haudenosaunee worldview and then uses ethical discourse to explain the evolution of Haudenosaunee-European relationships through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to Canadian Confederation and, finally, to the modern age of land reclamations and assertions of Haudenosaunee sovereignty. Unravelling a uniquely Haudenosaunee perspective of the past, “Holding Hands With Wampum” is a cultural form of intellectual history, as it employs Haudenosaunee culture and ethical discourse to understand the place of a diverse community in the very public world of council fires and other political interactions. As an exercise in ethnohistory, “Holding Hands With Wampum” combines the documentary record with wampum belts and oral interviews in an effort to create a balanced historical narrative that situates culture in a constantly changing geo-political reality. The concept of métissage also provides a framework for understanding how these dramatically different peoples came together in the eighteenth century and created a new, common diplomatic protocol. Only by shedding light upon Haudenosaunee-European relations over such a long period can we hope to understand contemporary issues of land and treaty rights and, perhaps, learn how to rekindle the métissage of a not so distant past. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-19 15:18:03.721

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is threaded together with sken:nen, the radical practice of peacemaking. As a Kanien’keha:ka woman, I am responsible for finding ways of bringing our peace-full teachings, gifts and intellect into the future. This thesis braids together a resurgent ethic of sken:nen with Haudenosaunee knowledges, Indigenous feminisms and decolonial futurities by taking up the question: Oh nisa’taro:ten? (What is the contour of your clay?), posed in Kanien’keha to situate me in relation to the lands I come from. I am taking this ancestral question seriously by exploring the relationships that make up the ‘clay’ of my contemporary Haudenosaunee Indigeneity as it is shaped by life in an active settler colonial state. Tracing the rhythmic gestures of my grandmothers’ hands, I have created a patchworking star quilt methodology to gather fragments of my decolonial curiosities, weaving them into layered story-maps that capture constellations of my movements through settler occupied places. Through the assimilative policies of the Indian Act, quilting simultaneously became an act of survivance and resistance for my grandmothers; by picking up an intergenerational practice of patchworking as methodology, I am jumping into the ruptures of my contemporary Haundenosaunee identity, roles and responsibilities. Patchworking story-maps involves tracing genealogies of intergenerational trauma, rupturing geographies of lateral violence, overflowing either/or binary cuts of identity (non)belonging, and navigating the urbanized displacements of Indigenous peoples from lands, communities and relationships. In an effort to mobilize the knowledges and practices of sken:nen, and to ensure that my work is accessible to a wider audience, my story-maps have been shared in a digital format using Instagram to stitch moments of Indigenous presence, memory and language (back) into the fabric of cityscapes that are riddled with the logics of settler colonialism. This thesis aims to create generative spaces to explore, transform and (re)imagine futurities of peacemaking that move towards more accountable and inclusive webs of relationality rooted in fluid traditions and (star)world building. / Graduate

I collaborate with Elders of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory – mainly former vice-principals and principals – to share their stories about elementary school administration of the community’s day schools of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and of the larger consolidated schools thereafter. By engaging in storywork with them, their stories reveal that as Indigenous organizations like the National Indian Brotherhood/Assembly of First Nations (NIB/AFN) warned First Nations about mistaking administrative control, or delegated authority as it framed it, as real, local control over their children’s education, vice-principals and principals in Six Nations reframed it as inherent acts of self-determination and sovereignty over education. Drawing on Audra Simpson’s nested sovereignty, and Glen Sean Coulthard’s self-recognition to produce a more accurate representation of administrative control in the community, the author argues that vice-principals and principals in Six Nations did not mistake their practice as delegated authority but instead – as inherently sovereign actors – went through a process of negotiating self-determination and sovereignty within the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s (DIAND) educational framework to upset its status quo of First Nations only managing educational programs and services. If sovereignty is understood to be a process, rather than a destination as Robert Allen Warrior suggests, then vice-principals and principals exercising administrative control on a daily basis in their schools should be recognized as inherently self-determining and sovereign. By sharing their stories, they reveal that they possess the authority to determine the definition and character of administrative control at the local level. The argument’s implication being that there are alternative ways of knowing and understanding administrative control in First Nations schools, rather than the national discourse that evolved in the decades following the NIB’s Indian Control of Indian Education. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / I collaborate with Elders of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory – mainly former vice-principals and principals – to share their stories about elementary school administration of the community’s day schools of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and of the larger consolidated schools of the 1990s and early 2000s. By engaging in storywork with the Elders, their stories reveal that as Indigenous organizations like the National Indian Brotherhood/Assembly of First Nations (NIB/AFN) warned First Nations communities about mistaking administrative control, or delegated authority as it framed it, as real, local control over their children’s education, vice-principals and principals in Six Nations reframed it as inherent acts of self-determination and sovereignty over education. Their stories provide an alternative way of knowing and understanding administrative control in First Nations schools.

Okwire’shon:’a, or trees of the forest, guide the methodology and epistemology of my doctoral research. The Rotinonhsonni creation history tells us that all life is made from the clay of the earth (Mother Earth or First Woman), and therefore everything in Creation shares an origin in and a connection to the earth. Thus, Rotinonhsonni thoughtways understand trees to be part of an interconnected network of land-based knowledge that spans from time immemorial to the present. As extensions of First Woman, trees are literally my relations, my ancestors. While onkwehonwe (original peoples) have long been able to tap into the knowledge of the land (and many still do), colonialism has significantly disrupted our landed and place-based relationships and consequently our ability to read the land. This, in turn, disrupts the ability of onkwehonwe to live within the principles of Kayanerekowa. My dissertation explores, through juxtapositions of Rotinonhsonni oral histories, contemporary Indigenous literature, and a series of trees, the possibility of (re)learning to read and communicate with the land. Using a trans-Indigenous methodology, my project examines three branches of land-centered philosophy within Indigenous literature: enacting creation stories; spirit agency; and internalized ecological holism. By reading different Indigenous texts across from Rotinonhsonni epic teachings, my trans-Indigenous methodology affirms Indigenous alliances with the environment and with each other, their long-standing presence on and stewardship of the land, and the value and validity of knowledge that is ancestral, adaptive, and alive. I argue that by carrying forward land-centered knowledge contemporary Indigenous literature stimulates an awareness of the land and nonhuman societies as cognizant and in communication with us. Renewing relations and modes of relationality to the land in this way re-energizes Kayanerekowa, and has the potential to strengthen Indigenous efforts for self-determination, knowledge resurgence, land reclamation, and nation-to-nation alliances. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This project demonstrates a cyclical process of reading between a small selection of contemporary Indigenous literatures, Indigenous oral histories and cosmologies, and a series of trees indigenous to Turtle Island. Tree-readings are attempted through three methods: aesthetic (metaphoric) interpretation; analysis through Indigenous oral histories; and, listening to the thoughts of the trees themselves. Each tree’s teachings are then bundled together as a framework for reading a work of Indigenous narrative art that demonstrates similar principles and emphases. The overall aim of this work is to model how landed processes of coming to know develop an awareness of the land and all nonhuman societies as alive, thinking, and possessing agency. In a Rotinonhsonni (Six Nations) context, this renewal of landed consciousness strengthens the principles of righteousness, reason, and power, which sustain the Kayanerekowa (Great Law of Peace).

Hur vi än lever våra liv så påverkar det alltid naturen runt omkring oss på något sätt. Bland annat bygger vi hus och infrastruktur, odlar, konsumerar och reser, vilket i olika utsträckningar inverkar på naturen. Idag pågår en aktiv global debatt om de negativa konsekvenserna som människors fotavtryck har satt på Jorden i form av miljöförstöring. Miljöförstöringen handlar till stor del om effekterna av Jordens ökande medeltemperatur, vilket i sin tur i stor utsträckning beror på våra levnadsvanor i form av produktions- och konsumtionsmönster. Ett internationellt arbete har påbörjats sedan en tid tillbaka för att skapa hållbara samhällen. I det här arbetet jämförs två aktörers texter angående deras relation till naturen. Aktörerna är Mohawkindianen Tom Porter samt Förenta Nationernas tre styrdokument: Riodeklarationen, Agenda 21 samt Skogsprinciperna, och de är båda deltagare i den globala miljödebatten. Deras relation till naturen kommer även att sättas i relation till världsbilder och kulturella kontexter samt förståelse kring texternas uppkomst. Resultatet visar att de två aktörernas relation till naturen och världsbilder i stort sett är varandras motsatser, vilket kan förstås utifrån bakgrunden till respektive kulturella kontexter där skapelseberättelsen och den vetenskapliga revolutionen är av betydelse. Även orsaken till texternas uppkomst utgör skillnader som bottnar i hur människans relation till naturen gestaltar sig.