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
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.