This film is presented by The Akwesasne Freedom School, a sovereign Mohawk immersion institution dedicated to preserving the language and culture that colonization sought to erase. Through the wisdom of elders, they ensure the Mohawk language and identity thrive for future generations.
The Opening Address (Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen) is the central prayer of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). It expresses gratitude for life and the natural world, opening and closing all social and religious gatherings.
Recited daily at sunrise, it is an ancient message of peace and appreciation for Mother Earth. It teaches that all people are family, and diversity is a gift.
By offering thanks to the Natural World, one becomes spiritually connected to it. The Opening Address fosters mutual respect, conservation, and the understanding that what we do to the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.
Konwanahktotha Alvera Sargent (Snipe clan member of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne) is a mother, grandmother and the Executive Director of the Friends of the Akwesasne Freedom School as well as former manager of the Akwesasne Freedom School, an independent school that has immersed its students in the Mohawk language and culture for the past 41 years.
She is passionate about Mohawk language and culture and strongly believes that all Indigenous languages are the key to the survival of Onkwehonwe (First Peoples) and their identities. She serves on several local and national Native American organization boards and advisory committees.
Jess Lowe Chaverri is a first-generation Costa Rican-American filmmaker based between New York and Los Angeles. As Executive Producer at Fresh Film Productions, she champions diverse voices in storytelling. She has produced and directed an extensive portfolio of commercials for globally recognized brands and music videos for top contemporary artists. Her work includes The Bomb, an immersive film that closed the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, and They Saw the Sun First, which most notably won a BAFTA and Webby in 2021. She is currently directing a feature documentary. A passionate outdoorswoman, Jess enjoys camping and volunteers with the Huneebee Project.
My vision for the film was to have speakers go from the eldest to the youngest. The elder speakers are first language speakers, those under 40 are second language speakers who have completed language programs and are continuing to learn to speak. The AFS students from the 8th down to the 1st grades are learning and speaking their language each day!