She:kon Yakotsenhtha yonkyats. Hello, my name is Yakotsenhtha or Heather. I am a proud member of the Bay of Quinte Mohawks, also known as Tyendinaga or Kenhte:ke along the shore of the Bay of Quinte where the Peacemaker rests. Our traditional territory is in the Mohawk Valley in New York State but extends to Montreal, over to Toronto and the Grand River. We are river and woodland people, so the beautiful rivers in the Comox Valley remind me of home. I have been actively studying Kanyenke’ha (Mohawk language) and reclaiming culture alongside my relatives in Kenhte:ke. I also have roots from Cork and Dublin in Ireland and Yorkshire, England.
My educational career has varied, never a straight line, only curves. I was a Fine Arts, Drama and English teacher in high school, a Waldorf teacher for Grade 1-7, taught at Emily Carr College, a cultural presenter and ISW at Denman and Hornby Community Schools, and built an experiential learning middle school program at Hornby Island Community School in the past two years. I have also had an alternative healing practice for 18 years in Squamish where I lived before moving to Denman Island.
My heart lies in the intersection between the importance of healing, the joy of learning, creative inspiration, and the power of nature. I believe in respectful reciprocal relational and holistic learning and turn to nature as my teacher to learn what all of that means in reality.
