We are a charitable social enterprise offering excellent outdoor learning training, tools and resources, with 100% of proceeds supporting outdoor learning non-profit initiatives.
This course is open to everyone – Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults who wish to learn to uplift language revitalization. If you are a non-Indigenous language learner, we invite you to review these reflections on what it means to be a non-Indigenous learner in an Indigenous language learning course.
This fun and engaging Skarù·ręʔ (Tuscarora) course introduces participants to pronouncing the language’s unique sounds, writing with the orthography (alphabet), and creating nouns and verbs from a variety of prefixes, root words, and suffixes – just like in Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) and other related Haudenosaunee languages.
Learners will be encouraged to participate in class and complete weekly homework tasks so that by the end they may feel confident to introduce themselves, engage in dialogue, deliver the Thanksgiving Address, sing new songs, and share Skarù·ręʔ teachings with friends and family.
The colonial names of the geographic regions that this course would be most applicable for are Ontario, New York, and North Carolina.
Course fees go towards supporting our charity in covering the course costs, including ensuring that we compensate the course instructors adequately, and that we can continue to offer learning opportunities like these.
Schuyler Chew is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Wolf clan enrolled at Six Nations of the Grand River and grew up on the Tuscarora Nation. He first began learning Skarù·ręʔ at the Tuscarora Elementary School in grades K to 6 and recommitted to adult langauge learning after completing undergrad studies.
He attended the American Indian Language Development Institute in 2015 and the Tuscarora Language Summer Camp in 2018. He received his doctoral degree in environmental science with a minor in Native linguistics at the University of Arizona where he studied Indigenous climate resilience.
For the past few years he has contributed to Skarù·ręʔ revitalization projects and looks forward to meeting other language warriors.
Indigenous languages carry connections to lands, ancestors, traditions, and contain ecological knowledge crucial for sustainable living, medicinal practices, and traditional storytelling, enriching our collective wisdom. By supporting Indigenous language revitalization efforts, we not only preserve linguistic diversity but also uphold Indigenous Peoples’ fundamental rights to their languages and cultures.
Our intention being not to offer a second language program where participants achieve fluency, but rather to provide a spark—an introduction that inspires and encourages further engagement with the language and broader revitalization efforts. We aim to create a welcoming space where learners can begin their journey, build connections, and develop a foundation for future learning opportunities.
Non-Indigenous participants can take steps towards reconciliation by participating in language courses like these as a way to uplift language revitalization and deepen their own understanding of local place. We just ask that you review these reflections on what it means to be a non-Indigenous learner in an Indigenous language learning course.
