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Faculty of Graduate Studies

Nathan Thanyehténhas Brinklow

  • BA (Master’s College & Seminary, 2004)

  • MA (Wycliffe College, 2009)

Notice of the Final Oral Examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Topic

Stitching Together Relationships, Partnerships, and Kanyen'kéha Revitalization at Tyendinaga

Department of Indigenous Education

Date & location

  • Friday, April 17, 2026

  • 9:30 A.M.

  • Virtual

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

  • Dr. Onowa McIvor Whitinui, Department of Indigenous Education, University of Victoria (Supervisor)

  • Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule, Department of Indigenous Education, UVic (Member)

  • Dr. Jill Scott, Royal Military College of Canada (Outside Member) 

External Examiner

  • Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald, Senior Vice Provost for Research & Creative Activities, Hofstra University 

Chair of Oral Examination

  • Dr. Sonya Bird, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, UVic

     

Abstract

Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre (TTO) has supported Kanyen'kéha (Mohawk) language revitalization in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory since 2000, with adult immersion and intensive language programs from 2004. During this time, TTO has partnered with three Ontario universities to design and deliver full-time and part-time programs in addition to offering independent programs. This dissertation documents this history through organizational records, administrator’s memories, student experiences, and textile-based Onkwehón:we research methods to preserve a unique dimension of the organization’s story. 

The dissertation develops and deploys a quilting methodology grounded in Indigenous making traditions and the author’s own inheritance as a quilter. This approach positions object, process, and person in continual dialogue, and its material practices enable collective authorship, relational knowledge-building, and meaning to emerge through the shared handling of stories and textiles. 

Four interconnected texts ground the dissertation at its center. The first two offer institutional perspectives: an organizational history tracing TTO’s growth from grassroots language circle to community language center, revealing the relational approach that vitally shaped and sustained post-secondary partnerships. The third is a case study of the TTO Queen’s University joint Certificate in Mohawk Language and Culture, journeying through program development, expansion, and the tensions that can arise between community-based needs and university-based administrative structures. The fourth text centers the students’ voices, revealing that learners seek connection to family, community, ceremony, and identity more than credentials; and highlights how university systems oriented toward individual achievement can struggle to support the collective, relational work of language reclamation. 

The quilt metaphorically wraps itself around the research narrating the collaborative creation of a story quilt, honoring the students, teachers, supporters, and partners who have worked over twenty-five years to reclaim and strengthen Kanyen'kéha at Tyendinaga.

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