Page 124 - E-magazine ENG19

Along with the University of Waterloo, there are other institutions forging
a path to try and preserve the Mohawk language and hopefully repair
some of the damage from history. Queens University, University of
Toronto, McMaster University, and University of Western Ontario are
united in the effort to protect a vital part of the Indigenous people
heritage.

Mohawk is one of the largest local languages to this area. The Mohawk
language program was introduced as an Arts special topics course at
Renison in fall 2017, after discussions between Jeff Wilson and the
President of Renison.

Originally you could only find the course if you specifically looked for it,
but in the last academic year Renison was able to promote it as a course
code, so it is seen when anyone is searching for courses in the Arts
program at Renison.

As of today though, English is the first language of Indigenous people
because of what happened in the past. So even though Residential
schools are now closed, their legacy and damage perseveres. How
tragic.

When speaking to Jeff Wilson, there are currently 135 self-identified
Indigenous students from all Nations and Bands, at the entire University
of Waterloo, which historically highlights how Indigenous people have
not had adequate access to the University.