FORT COVINGTON, N.Y. – Some might say that the Salmon River Central School District and its students are in the middle of a cultural revolution. One teacher in particular has gone above and beyond her call of duty to promote Mohawk cultural awareness and pride in the district.
Katsitsionni Fox has earned praise in her Mohawk community for her successful education efforts. Located in a rural off-reservation farming district, the 50-year-old Salmon River school system serves the nearby Akwesasne Mohawk community. The school;s Native population has grown to 65 percent.
Fox was hired by the school district in 2001. Since then, the district’s Mohawk culture curriculum has flourished.
”It’s changed a lot,” she said. ”It seemed like when I first got here, I didn’t see Native pride. I felt students were afraid to put it [their Native pride] out there even if they knew about it.”
Fox went to work with the students and began talking with school administrators and school board members about the curriculum. She was chosen to teach the school’s Native studies course, which she said needed to be completely revamped.
”The course that they were teaching was really generic,” she said. ”We wanted to focus more on the kids who were here because they’re Haudenosaunee kids. All these kids are going to eventually get out into the world and they really should know who they are.”
The new course, which Fox describes as ”Haudenosaunee 101,” covers everything from the creation story to contemporary times.
”It’s one of my favorite classes,” she said.
Fox now has a full workload, teaching seven different classes. Along with Native studies, she teaches Mohawk to grades five and six, advanced Mohawk to high school students, two Mohawk language review classes and Native film.
The Native film class is where a great deal of talent and pride has come from the school’s Mohawk students.
”The kids really like it and have a good time with it,” Fox said.
At the beginning of the year, the film students are told that the best student-produced films will be shown at an annual Native film festival. The festival has been held for the past three years at a large seven-screen movie theater in the city of Cornwall, Akwesasne’s neighbor. At the festival, several locally made films are shown as well as a few from other Native communities. Most of the films are culture-related, but there is no theme requirement. The students take pride in seeing their own work on a big screen.
Along with improving curriculum, Fox has been involved with three main culture-related events in the district.
First, in 2002, a Haudenosaunee flag was erected in the front of the building, where American and Canadian flags had flown for years.
”It was a big event here when they raised the flag,” Fox said. ”The moment was right at that time. The administration was open to it and we had students that were pushing the issues.”
The next two accomplishments were more complicated. One involved the dress code at graduation and the desire of Mohawk students to wear traditional clothing at the ceremony. The other involved the reciting of the traditional Mohawk opening address over the school’s PA system. Some non-Native community members were against both requests.
Both issues ”really bothered the students,” Fox said.
”I told them to address their feelings, and to write to the school board,” she said. ”I was in on the meetings and I would say things myself, but I really encouraged the students to let their voices be heard on what they wanted.”
Fox recalled how active the students became in defending their culture.
”They really took the lead on that,” she said. ”A lot of the kids were really good organizers: they did sit-ins, they did petitions, they wrote letters. They need to know how to do this when they get into the world if they want to change anything.”
In the end, the school board allowed Mohawk students to wear traditional clothing at graduation if they so chose; and while the opening address is not read on the PA system, the school board has worked to include Mohawk culture into the curriculum in other ways since then.
Emily Lauzon, who has been a member of the Salmon River school board since before Fox was hired, commended the teacher for her contributions.
”Salmon River Central School has been able to provide a diverse Mohawk program due in part to Tsionni’s knowledge of Mohawk customs and traditions and her teaching style, along with her ability to bring people together,” she said. ”I would consider Tsionni Fox a ‘gem’ in our school district.”
The district’s superintendent, Jane Collins, concurred.
”Tsionni is very ‘student- centered’ and she understands how to reach the students,” she said. ”Her program is well planned and her instructional techniques match our students’ learning styles. Tsionni is a valued member of the Salmon River School District. We appreciate her dedication and commitment to developing an exemplary program that is reflective of the Mohawk way of life.”
Nihasenaa Peters, one of Fox’s current students, said he likes her style of teaching. ”She jokes with us and she’s not always really serious.”
Fox admitted to having a specific teaching style in mind.
”I try not to teach above them,” she said. ”I try to teach with them, and work with them as they’re moving along through things. I like them to question things.”