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."