Singing Christmas jingles in Kanien'kéha part of Kanesatake's online community activities

Jingle Bells is one of a handful of popular holiday tunes translated into Kanien'kéha, the Mohawk language, that people in Kanesatake, Que., were encouraged to belt out as a part of a community-wide activity.

Teiawenniserate Tomlinson and his children Teiako'takerá:ton and Raronienhá:wi recorded themselves singing Shwistà:'ek (Jingle Bells) and Kanen'tí:io (O Christmas Tree), and posted the video to Facebook as a part of the activity to encourage the use of Kanien'kéha.

It was a part of a slew of holiday activities organized by Kanesatake's emergency response unit, the team in charge of pandemic response, as a way to lift the spirits of community members as they struggle with public health restrictions.

"Given my love for our language, I really enjoyed the Christmas song one," said Tomlinson, who is currently a student in a Kanien'kéha immersion program.

"We've been singing them in our house ever since. I'll find the kids singing them whenever they're by themselves."

Other activities have included a gingerbread house making contest, holiday bake-off, opportunities to give thanks and rock their ugliest sweaters. Participants made Christmas cards that will be given to elders in the community.

Tomlinson said the activities have brought the community together in a positive way.

"It gives the kids something fun to look forward to. So every day they get to participate in a fun activity," he said.

"It really brings a positive vibe in this time where we don't see too much of that right now."

For Robin Sky, singing Sosá:n Niwa'kerí:io (Suzie Snowflake) brought back memories of when her children were young.

"It's a song that my children learned at the Mohawk immersion school here in Kanesatake when they were little. They had Christmas plays and shows. Because they practised it so many times, I learned it with them," said Sky. 

"I didn't know I retained it. As soon as I started to sing it, it came back to me as if it was yesterday."

Sky said the activities were an important substitution for holiday gatherings and activities that normally take place around this time of the year.

"To have this virtually, it was a way of keeping the community spirit up during the holiday season," said Sky.

"It really helped keep up mental health."

That was the idea, according to Robert Bonspiel, spokesperson for the emergency response unit. 

"They needed a distraction," said Bonspiel.

"They needed to hear something different than COVID-19, something that is not negative that will bring them together. We can have fun and we can do something nice even with the restrictions that are in place," 

"We're going to continue to seize that opportunity to try to get people aware of other things and one of them is our language which is very important to us."