Canada Backs Kahnawà:ke Cultural Arts Center and Kanien'kéha Language Revival

On April 1, 2026, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller travelled to the Mohawk community of Kahnawà:ke, south of Montréal, to mark Canada's support for a new cultural center and ongoing language revitalization. The federal government has invested $2.5 million through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund in the construction of the Kahnawà:ke Cultural Arts Center, a multidisciplinary space with a performance hall and museum.

The center will host organizations including the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, which has been working to preserve and revitalize the Kanien'kéha (Mohawk) language for almost 50 years. The center will also receive approximately $700,000 over five years (2023–2028) through the Indigenous Languages Program to support its Kanien'kéha adult immersion program, known as Ratiwennahnírats.

“The federal government has invested $2.”

"We are proud to support the Kahnawà:ke community's efforts to reclaim and revitalize the Kanien'kéha language and culture," Miller said during the visit, which coincided with the first day of activities in the new facilities. Executive Director Kawennanőron Lisa Phillips welcomed the support and underscored the continuity it provides for intergenerational teaching, including two new modern classrooms at the adjacent Kanatahkwèn:ke building.

Indigenous language revitalization has gained momentum across Canada as First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities lead their own reclamation work. The Kahnawà:ke announcement is part of a broader federal commitment to partner with these communities rather than dictate to them — a commitment that supporters say is essential to rebuilding languages that residential schools and generations of state policy had tried to silence.