{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Road to Your Name Podcast","title":"Road To Your Name - Season 7, Episode 1: Talking about the Mohawk Language with Maggie Yakorennio Powless-Lynes","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1871,"description":"This episode was recorded in November 2024.  Maggie has graduated from the Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa program in May 2026.\nThe Road to Your Name — Season 7, Episode 1\n\"She Has a Good Song\": Maggie Yakorennio Powless-Lynes on Learning Kanien'kéha\nEpisode Description\nWhat does it take to reclaim a language two generations after it was taken away? In this episode, host, Lisa, sits down with Maggie Yakorennio Powless-Lynes, a Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan member from Six Nations of the Grand River, who recently began her first year of the Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa (Our Language Society) adult immersion program in Ohsweken.\nMaggie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McMaster University and a Master's in Indigenous Public Health from the University of Toronto — but after years of \"maybe next year,\" she finally ran out of reasons not to learn her language. Two months into the intensive full-time program, she shares what the journey has been like so far: the entrance exam that requires memorizing 40 pronominal prefixes, the terror of the first two weeks, the warmth of teachers who are themselves graduates of the program, and the joy of studying alongside her older brother.\nA lifelong pianist and bassoonist with the Brantford Community Symphony Orchestra, Maggie also reflects on how being a musician shaped her approach to language learning — the patience, humility, and willingness to \"sound terrible for a long time\" that both pursuits demand. As she puts it, you can't become a speaker without speaking.\nLooking ahead, Maggie dreams of bridging two worlds that rarely meet: conducting community research entirely in Kanien'kéha, capturing people's realities in the language they actually think in.\nHer traditional name, Yakorennio, means \"she has a good song.\" It fits.\nIn This Episode\n- [02:00] Meet Maggie: from biochemistry and public health back to community\n- [03:16] Growing up with \"little words and phrases\" — the residential school generation and the gap it left\n- [06:05]...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/EMAPSU_o9vetcBfJJ4OU41woZtyCGFgI7d9nIXpjEOY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iMGM3/MjAxOGE0Njg1ZWVj/MWUxZTFkMzllNmI3/ZWQzZi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}