Thoughts from the Gaihwiyo Trail

Sgeno Swagwego! Hope this finds you all well. This past week our Longhouse hosted the Gaihwiyo in the Six Nations community. This is a five day event that is rich in history and protocol. It is the recitation of the Moral Code of Handsome Lake. As a faithkeeper, our roles are clear that we are to sit and listen to these words again to be reminded of how things are to be within our quality world as Onkwehonwe people. This is our time to listen to Creator's message that came through Handsome Lake.
This year I was fortunate enough to be able to have a different perspective on the Gaihwiyo. This is due to the generosity of elders within our community that have worked tirelessly to preserve our languagae and culture. Part of that process has been the translation of the Gaihwiyo as given by the late Huron Miller. Huron was a supreme orator within our culture. The fluency level he attained in several languages is remarkable! Lottie Keye, Alfred Keye and the late Fran Froman worked to translate his version into English. This is no easy task, as the words and language level in this recitation use what we refer to as "high language", meaning that they are not words we use in everyday language. There is a certain formality to them. To translate that into English to achieve relatively the same meaning is challenging!
With the foresight of the WCC Language department, a partnership with Memorial University was created to receive a community based research grant.  An initiative within this project has been to host a Community Outreach Program on Gaihwiyo. We are studying this version that has been translated, while listening to the audio version. To have access to a study guide that was recited and translated by our own people during this time has been invaluable to my learning! I am so grateful to have had this experience and thank all those that have made this possible.  We will continue to meet every Thursday to study the Moral Code of Handsome Lake.

CURA Grant Announcement

L-R: MP Phil McColeman. Co-Investigators Carrie Dyck, Amos Keye, Barb Brant,
Seated: Lottie Keye, Master Speaker

The C.O.O.L Project (Cayuga: Our Oral Legacy) received a grant from CURA (Community-University Research Alliance) in the amount of $1Million to study and conduct research in the Cayuga Language. The duration of the grant is from 2011-2015. On hand to accept were: Carrie Dyck  Primary Investigator and Amos Key, Co-Investigator. This creates a unique research alliance between the Woodland Cultural Centre and Memorial University of Newfoundland. CURA is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities       Research Council of Canada,   grant #833-2009-1001.

        The main goals of  COOL are:

•          to increase the number of speakers of Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷
•         to increase fluency levels
•         to hear Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷ spoken everywhere in the Six Nations community
•         to demonstrate how knowing Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷ promotes spiritual, emotional, and academic intelligence
•          to engage in public education and advocacy about minority language education, bilingualism, an bilingual education
•        to promote a change in public attitudes and policies about First Nations languages