The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Akwesasne has been working for years to save its native language. The number of Mohawk speakers has been declining for the last century, but new language immersion programs on the reservation are working to reverse that trend.

Emily RussellMake it new again: Mohawk tribe raises next generation of native speakers

Exactly how many native Mohawk speakers are there in Akwesasne? “That is the million-dollar question that everyone is asking right now," says Amberdawn Lafrance.

Lafrance is the Program Coordinator for the St. Regis Mohawk tribe’s Akwesasne Cultural Restoration program. Compared to other Mohawk reservations, Lafrance says Akwesasne is doing okay.

“Akwesasne is known as having the most fluent speakers left, but I had just heard [from] different people who are involved in language say we may only have 1,000 first language speakers left.”

That’s why, Lafrance says, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe has doubled down on efforts to build up the number of people who speak Mohawk as their first language. It's part of a larger trend to preserve indigenous languages around the country and across the border in Canada.

“Definitely there’s a revival right now. Language is becoming more of a priority.”

From 2013 to 2017 the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe used settlement money it got from Alcoa to fund a language immersion program.

Lafrance says there was also a focus on preserving Mohawk culture.

“It was basically an educational program where we hired people from the community who were knowledgeable about fishing, hunting, trapping, horticulture, traditional medicine to come to the program to work as teachers.”

Those teachers worked full time with more than a dozen students. Lafrance says the program was really successful. Some of those students are now teachers themselves.

The tribe has been putting a lot of resources in raising the next generation of Mohawk speakers.

In Akwesasne there are stop signs and street signs in Mohawk, shops like the Akwesasne Mini-Mart have little cards that tell you how to ask for things in the Mohawk, and there are more language classes now, too.

“If anyone here wanted to learn, there are all kinds of options now," says Lafrance.

"You could invest in a program like ours, which is full-time for two years, or you could take classes for two hours twice a week."

There are even online classes and language apps for your smartphone.

Lafrance says there’s a lot of momentum in Akwesasne to save the Mohawk language. That’s why it meant a lot when the tribe recently learned it was getting a federal grant for $897,999 to put towards that effort.

That money will help fund a new two-year language immersion program and a round of workshops focusing on both Mohawk language and culture.

“We’re trying to bring together youth and elders and get them outside, get them on the land, but also get them using their language all at the same time," explains Lafrance.

"The title of our program is Á:se Tsi Tewá:ton, which means to make it new again, so that’s really what we’re trying to do.”

The next round of the tribe’s language immersion program starts September 9.