Kanien'kéha teacher who connected to people through the language dies at 77

Family, friends and colleagues are mourning the loss of a language teacher who had a big impact in Haudenosaunee communities and beyond.

Dorothy Lazore, whose name in Kanien'kéha (Mohawk language) was Karihwenhawe, died March 7 at age 77. The lifelong language guardian was from Akwesasne, on the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders.

Karihwenhawe means 'she carries the business.' 

"That was her life mission, to revitalize the Mohawk language and help in not only her own community of Akwesasne, but any other Mohawk nation that called upon her, and she was her happiest when she was working and helping others in the language," said Sherry Green Procunier, a friend of Lazore's from Tyendinaga, in Ontario.

Lazore made significant contributions to the revitalization of Indigenous languages across Canada and Hawaii, developing strategies, curriculums and resources.

Lazore was a nun with the Sisters of St. Anne for nearly two decades before leaving the order, continuing to teach. 

Procunier, whose Kanien'kéha name is Kawennanoron, said she was in awe of Lazore when she first came to Tyendinaga in 1990. She said her enthusiasm for the language helped her form connections and close friendships.

"She came in and just awakened, I guess you could say, our community," she said.

"It was so amazing to see this young, beautiful woman from Akwesasne, a fluent speaker, coming into the school and speaking only Kanien'kéha."

Procunier said Lazore developed curriculum and language resources where none had previously existed, allowing students to remain in Tyendinaga rather than travelling to other Haudenosaunee communities to learn Kanien'kéha.

She said she not only considered her family but also a mentor. 

"She made everybody feel special and I think that's why people would sort of flow to her because she was like a magnet," said Procunier.

Procunier said when she was first approached to teach Kanien'kéha at Quinte Mohawk School, which was in desperate need of a Kanien'kéha teacher at the time, she was often just one or two steps ahead of her students.

She said that after teaching all day, "Dorothy, bless her soul, would come to my house every night and she'd help me prepare my lessons and she'd go over all the vocabulary with me and then the next day I would go in and teach that lesson." 

Time spent in Kahnawà:ke

Greg Horn, from Kahnawà:ke, south of Montreal, was first taught by Lazore when he was in Grade 1. 

His class was the first cohort that created enough students for an immersion school that went from Grade 1 to 6, Karonhianónhnha Tsi Ionterihwaienstáhkhwa.

She had visited Hawaii in the 1980s to help with efforts to revitalize the Hawaiian language. Horn said she was well-remembered there.

"A few years ago, there was some Hawaiians that were sailing the St. Lawrence on a Hawaiian craft, like a big giant Hawaiian canoe," he said.

"They stopped in Kahnawà:ke because they wanted to visit the place where Karihwenhawe was first teaching."

Lazore didn't have children of her own but her sisters Emmy Lazore and Grace Mitchell said she was close with her nieces and nephews, often encouraging them to learn Kanien'kéha.

She was the second oldest of seven siblings and is survived by her two sisters and two brothers, Joe and Angus Lazore.

Her sisters said it wasn't a surprise that so many people came to Lazore's funeral held last Wednesday.

"We knew that was going to happen because she was so well known," said Emmy Lazore.

She had worked with Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education for many years and with the Mohawk Language and Culture Program.

Mitchell said her sister inspired her to continue to learn the language long after she retired.

"I'm still working with elders and I'm working with the ones who have relearned the language," said Mitchell, who teaches with their brother Joe Lazore.

Mohawk government offices at Akwesasne were closed on March 12 and their flag was flown at half-mast for 10 days "as a mark of respect for her contributions and service to our community," a post on their Facebook page read.