Tsiawentonnih E. George, a SUNY Canton Graphic and Multimedia Design major from Massena, is creating a resource to teach people how to correctly pronounce Mohawk Names as a part of her Presidential Internship at the college. SUNY Canton photo.
CANTON – A SUNY Canton student’s new project will help decipher the etymology of Native names and help connect students and faculty with the Mohawk language.
“My name is Tsiawentonnih [phonetically Jaw-one-due-nee] Elizabeth George,” she said. “It means she brings a new day. I’m the only person in the world with this name.”
George, who’s a Graphic and Multimedia Design major from Massena, is planning a video tutorial project to help others understand the significance of – and correctly say – Mohawk names as part of her Presidential Internship position at the college. She said the language confuses most people because it is guttural and rhythmic.
“There are only 14 letters [12 characters from the English alphabet and two punctuation symbols] in the whole language, so it’s a lot different than speaking English,” George said. “I feel like most words you can’t hear and then just say again if you don’t know the language.”
As part of the project, George is currently seeking the help of experts from Akwesasne to help teach others the importance and cultural impact of using someone’s given moniker.
“Another part of a traditional name is that it’s not given to you by your family,” George said. “A traditional name is given to an individual by a clan mother with available names from each clan on file. These names become available when another clan member passes on. When naming a child, clan mothers feel a spiritual energy that guides them to the proper fitting name that best describes the unborn child’s personality.”
Beyond the educational component, the project allows her to explore her heritage. Her grandmother isn’t Native, so George does not belong to a clan, and her name indicates her lineage.
She said she sees her language…
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