Nathan Brinklow

Nathan Brinklow Thanyeht茅nhas

Director of the Indigenous Studies Program

Mohawk

Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Arts and Science

nb81@queensu.ca

613-533-2078

Kingston Hall 212C

People Directory Affiliation Category

Research interests: Mohawk language & culture, learning language through culture,  Adult second language acquisition, traditional Mohawk belief & spirituality

Education

M Div    Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
B Th       Master鈥檚 College & Seminary, Peterborough, ON

成人大片

Thanyeht茅nhas (Nathan Brinklow) is Turtle Clan from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He grew up without the language in a community that had largely lost its heritage language as an everyday spoken language.  Nathan鈥檚 interest in the language was sparked through the 鈥淢ohawk Hymns鈥 he sang with his grandmother as a young man and following his formal studies, he went on to study at Shatiwennakar谩:tats, the intensive adult language program at Tyendinaga.  He now teaches in that program.

In Nathan鈥檚 experience of learning and teaching, the language and culture are inseparable.  This informs his approach to teaching constantly passing on elements of the culture as they present themselves in the language.  Kanyen鈥檏茅ha (Mohawk) is also a descriptive language and paints vivid pictures with the way words have been created, so learning to recognize the actual meanings of the words allows the contemporary speaker to actually 鈥渟ee鈥 how previous generations encountered and interacted with the world.

Professional interests include second language acquisition methodologies, especially for adults; the canon of Mohawk Hymns, with attention to the unique compositions; early Bible translations and how Christian concepts were translated using traditional ideas; and the development of the traditional Mohawk cycle of ceremonies.

Teaching

Professor Brinklow teaches the following courses:

Queen's campus:
MOHK 101: Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture I
MOHK 102: Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture II

Tyendinaga:
MOHK 103/3.0  Oral Mohawk Language - Beginning I (TMT) 
MOHK 104/3.0  Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture II Tyendinaga 
MOHK 201/3.0  Intermediate Mohawk Language and Culture 
MOHK 202/3.0  Oral Mohawk Language