Two years ago, Tióhrhano Diabo couldn’t pronounce the name his grandmother gave him. That changed when he embarked on his language-learning journey, enrolling in the Kanien’kéha Ratiwennahní:rats Adult Immersion Program run by the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center.
One of the challenges he found most intimidating in the program was delivering the Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen – the words that come before all else – a revolving responsibility for the students.
“I was always scared of that when my time came around,” he said. But he kept working at it.
The 22-year-old recent graduate said he still has a ways to go in Kanien’kéha, but he’s already come a long way. Sometimes he even dreams in the language spoken by his ancestors.
“The number one thing we kept is our old language, and that keeps our old way of thinking,” he said.
Now the language will finally have a permanent home in the community: the Kahnawake Cultural Arts Center (KCAC), which will house the KOR, a state-of-the-art museum, and Turtle Island Theatre, with Kahnawake Tourism as a fundamental partner.
And it was Diabo who delivered the Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen this week before a room full of journalists and staff as the organizations behind the KCAC gathered to announce the final phase of fundraising for the nearly $56 million project, which is slated to open to the public in spring 2026.
“We’re this, this close,” said Lisa Phillips, executive director of the KOR.Kahnawake’s language and cultural centre has been shoehorned into aging buildings over its nearly 50-year existence – Joe Delaronde, who emceed the event, noted that the first one was torn down a few years ago and the second is now a parking lot. Today, the KOR is located on the second floor of the Kahnawake Office Complex.
But that will soon change.
Not only will KOR make its home in a building designed as a destination in itself, one worthy of Kahnawake’s pride in its language and culture, but it will stand on land that the KOR dreamed of calling home in some of its earliest days.
“It’s really heartfelt and emotional that the building is constructed there and that’s where we’ll be opening, in that location,” Phillips said.
So far, $51 million of $55.5 million has been raised for the construction of the building. While the cost of the project skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19 – in 2022, it had been slated to cost $32 million – the project has stayed on time and on budget, organizers said, since the plan was finalized in 2023.
The hope is that as part of the final phase of the Capital Campaign, donations flow in from everyday community members. Organizers believe this will contribute to a sense of shared ownership of the project.
Kahnawa’kehró:non can expect a K1037 radiothon and a theatre seat sale as the final phase of the Capital Campaign ramps up.
“That’s what we really want, is the community to feel a part of this collectively, for everybody to buy into the vision and to leave, for the next seven generations, an opportunity for our young people to get connected to their language, their culture, their identity,” said Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, Capital Campaign chair and former Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief.
“When our community rallies together, that’s when we’re our strongest,” she said.
The Capital Campaign is also continuing to solicit donations from all over, inviting outside media for a major event at Kateri Hall this week to let everyone in the region know that Kahnawake is on the cusp of making this dream come true. The hope is that viewers, listeners, and readers might be galvanized to help push the project over the finish line.
“I ask anybody who is listening, if you want to be a part of helping to restore and make things the way they were for our future generations, that you’ll get behind this project,” Sky-Deer told the assembled journalists.
She recalled the fear at the Council table when the final, $56 million price tag became clear, but the importance of the project was never in doubt.
“This is the backbone, this is the heart, this is the foundation of our future generations, and what we’re going to reclaim, revitalize, bring back, restore about us as Kanien’kehá:ka,” said Sky-Deer.
“We have so much to showcase as Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawake, as part of the Haudenosaunee, people of the Longhouse, and all of the contributions that we have made to society that most people don’t even realize,” Sky-Deer said.
Lacrosse, which will once again be part of the Olympics in 2028, is one example, she noted.
“The history books do not do us any justice. It’s revisionist history. It doesn’t really share the rich ways of our people, what our presence has meant here in these lands, and will continue to in the future,” said Sky-Deer.
In addition to the value of features like the museum, the centre will give the community’s many young, talented artists space to learn and ply their craft, Sky-Deer noted. To see the vision really coming to life, it’s just super exciting,” she said.
Following the press conference, members of the media donned hard hats and steel-toed boots as Phillips and Kahnawake Tourism’s tourism development officer Kimberly Cross led a lunchtime tour of the facility, which is well on its way to completion.
Many of the contractors and workers on the project are local, adding to the sense of community involvement.
“This is what it’s about at the end of the day,” said MCK grand chief Cody Diabo. “Keeping our workers home, building the infrastructure, building the things for our community, for the legacy, for future generations.”
In the coming days, an official name for the Kahnawake Cultural Arts Center will be unveiled alongside a logo.
Canada has kicked in $16 million for the building, Quebec pitched in $11 million, and Hydro Quebec paid $10 million. A range of other donors, including businesses, individuals, and community organizations have also contributed prior the the fundraising entering its final phase.
