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Tahohtharátye Joe Brant is from Tyendinaga Mohawk Nation Territory, a Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk language) advanced-proficiency speaker, language activist and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Centre for Indigenous Studies and Department of Linguistics. In Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory he has served as a teacher and elementary school principal, Mohawk language lead and lead researcher for “Ratiwennókwas”, one of the projects carried out through the SSHRC-funded NEȾOLṈEW̱-“One mind, one people” Partnership Grant with Tsi Tyónhnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural center.

Tahohtharátye was amongst the first few students in his 2014 cohort to complete and defend his thesis in the UVic Master of Indigenous Language Revitalization (MILR) program. His first-class GPA and the quality of his final written project put him in the top 5% of his graduating class at that time. More recently, he has been a student in the first-ever group of PhD students in Indigenous Language Revitalization at the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø, under the supervision of Dr. Onowa McIvor. He defended his dissertation on November 6, 2023, and as such he is the first student to have completed a PhD-SPARR in Indigenous Language Revitalization at UVic.

Growing up in Tyendinaga

Growing up in Tyendinaga, Tahohtharátye says there were only a few first language speakers remaining in the community and very low-lying Mohawk language prestige. Things changed in 1990 after The Kanehsatá:ke Resistance, also known as the Oka Crisis. Sparked by a proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses on disputed land in Kanehsatá:ke that included a Kanyen'kehà:ka burial ground, a 78-day standoff ensued between Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk) protesters, Quebec police, the RCMP and the Canadian Army. The golf course expansion was ultimately cancelled, and the land purchased by the federal government.

Early career teaching

As a new graduate from teacher’s college, Tahohtharátye was already thinking about culturally inclusive education. Luckily, his first job was teaching at a private school that supported cultural education aligned with the expectations of Ontario high school curriculum. He came out of the experience still seeking his own teaching style that celebrated culturally inclusive pedagogy, and soon realized it couldn’t happen without knowing the language.

In 2004, Tahohtharátye enrolled in a one-year, full-time Mohawk language immersion program called Shatiwennakará:tats, offered at the language and cultural center in Tyendinaga. Coming out, he says he felt better prepared to teach, but again realized his language proficiency still wasn’t yet high enough. So, he and his wife decided to take an opportunity to enroll in a second year of immersion in a neighbouring community.

Raising the next generation of first language speakers

In the winter of that year, Tahohtharátye and his wife found out they were expecting their first child. His instinct was to move back home closer to family and reestablish his teaching career before their baby arrived. His wife’s response was, “The greatest thing that we can ever give our children is their language. Why don’t we finish this immersion program and then be able to speak to our children in Kanyen’kéha?” 

They stayed and finished the immersion program, then moved back home to be with family once their daughter had arrived. At this time, Tahohtharátye began to document first-language speakers interacting with one another to help build his proficiency.

Getting connected at UVic

As a young parent, while working as a Vice-Principal at an elementary school, Tahohtharátye realized the next step in his path of learning leadership was through a master’s degree. In 2014, he joined the second-ever cohort of the UVic MILR program under the guidance of the late Dr. T’łat’laḵuł Trish Rosborough and Dr. Peter Jacobs. In this program, Tahohtharátye sought to understand how to create and maintain a Kanyen’kéha-speaking home.

Through his ongoing language documentation work, Tahohtharátye’s speaking proficiency blossomed. He discovered that recordings and transcriptions of first-language speakers provided an avenue for second-language learners to speak proficiently and authentically, “Some amazing things that happened to my proficiency in a very short period through this documentation and transcription. I was excited about exploring that more.”

He attended the 2018 Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium in Lethbridge, Alberta, with the NETOLNEW Partnership at UVic. There, he met with Trish, Peter, and Dr. Onowa McIvor. He asked them for guidance and told them he was interested in pursuing a big research project if he could. They talked about PhD work.

Outstanding doctoral research

In 2019, Tahohtharátye began his doctoral work in the Department of Indigenous Education at UVic under the supervision of Dr. Onowa McIvor. His dissertation, entitled ‘Tó: nya’teká:yen tsi Entewà:ronke’: Onkwehonwe’néha Documentation for Advanced adult Kanyen’kéha Learning’ asks the question “How can first-language Kanyen’kéha speaker documentation be utilized to support advanced proficiency development in adult Kanyen’kéha additional-language learning?”

He developed an original and innovative model for conducting language documentation research; the “Collaborative Practitioner Documentation Approach” lays out principles for this work in ways that reflect Indigenous protocols and worldviews. His dissertation includes a comprehensive language catalogue, an online repository of language resources consisting largely of audio recordings and an advanced language learning unit entirely in Kanyen’kéha.

Impacts of language revitalization programs

Tahohtharátye says that many people come into ILR programs with an exceptional understanding in many diverse fields. Language programs like the UVic MILR program celebrate the knowledge that our communities hold and provide academic programming and resources for people to share that knowledge. Being part of a cohort, ILR students get to network and build close relationships with others who are doing similar work. Accreditation is also important—while some people may feel that an elder accreditation holds more weight, university accreditation can help with job opportunities, opportunities for salary increases and other social and professional benefits. “Sometimes the impact of these programs is to uphold the knowledge that people come with, help them develop that knowledge and give them credit for it."

Over the past several years, a diverse and deeply committed group of community members, scholars and staff have been responsible for creating and delivering the UVic MILR program and supporting the first PhD students who are now coming through. These people have worked hard to develop the program and ensure its continuity throughout the years, enhancing and making changes as needed. As a result, UVic’s ILR programs are known and held in high regard across Canada and globally.

A bright future

Tahohtharátye says there is a noticeably growing interest in language use and speaking in Mohawk Nation territory. Specifically, taking the language out of academic contexts and into homes and coffee shops. The most important contexts, he argues, are intergenerational and multi-contextual ones. “It’s tremendously healing to use the language with our elderly demographic of first language speakers. It’s lifting their spirits to know that the knowledge they carry is important to younger people and that others want to carry it on for generations to come.”

Tahohtharátye continues to make important contributions to both the academic community and his language community through his passionate learning and integrated teaching practices. He holds unique and special knowledge of language, histories and traditions and has completed a truly unique and extraordinary dissertation. He has paved the way for all those who come after him, and he has done so by producing dissertation work which is exemplary, highly original and a seminal contribution to the fields of Indigenous Language Revitalization and Language Documentation (in Linguistics).