How this Mohawk residential school survivor is passing her language down to the next generation
A TV version of this story will air Friday at 5 p.m. on CTV Kitchener as part of our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation special. It will also be available online following the broadcast.
Warning: This story contains disturbing details
Diane Hill’s painful memories of the Mohawk Institute residential school include one she learned decades later from her father.
“When he found out we were there, he came to get us,” she says, recalling how he father told her burst in the door of the institution.
“He said, ‘I’m Harry Hill and I’m here for my kids.’”
A woman there told him his children had been sent to another school that morning.
“And dad left,” Hill says. “I remember when he told us that, my dad cried and he said ‘I did my best.’”
“But I always think of that, what if he got us? We were there. We were never sent anywhere, we weren’t sent away. We were there.”
Before Hill and her siblings were forced to attend to the school – called the “Mush Hole” by Six Nations people because of the food there – she came from a home rich in Indigenous language.
Her father spoke five of the six Haudenosaunee languages. Her mother spoke one, Mohawk.
“When we went into the residential school, it was forbidden,” she says. “We were punished severely."
That punishment was hard to forget when the kids returned home and their mother encouraged them to continue speaking Mohawk.
“You start to look around,” she says “Are they coming?”
In 1986, Hill started volunteering with First Language Academy and taught Mohawk at the immersion school until she retired last November.
“Our languages belong to the kids," she says. "That’s identity.”
For thirty years, Hill has worked to protect the once forbidden language and watch it grow with each coming generation.
Hearing kids speak to her in Mohawk is her greatest enjoyment.
“They’ve done the work, all I did was deliver it,” she says.
Support for is available for residential school survivors and those affected by the ongoing legacy of residential schools.
The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line can be reached 24-hours a day, 7-days a week at 1-866-925-4419.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Prince William and wife Kate thank public for birthday messages for son Louis
Prince William and his wife Kate thanked the public for their messages which had been sent to mark the sixth birthday of their youngest son Louis on Tuesday.
She was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father. Then life dealt her a blow
Anne Marie Cavner was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father, but then life dealt her a blow. From an unexpected loss to a host of new relationships, a DNA test changed her life, and she doesn't regret a thing.
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Fire engulfs old Edmonton municipal airport hangar
A historical hangar at the former Edmonton municipal airport beside the NAIT main campus was on fire Monday night.
RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a ploy to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
'Catch-and-kill' strategy to be a focus as testimony resumes in Trump hush money case
A veteran tabloid publisher was expected to return to the witness stand Tuesday in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial.