Giving Tuesday - Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project

The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (guy-o-KHOH-no) Learning Project (GLP) is a partnership of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to support the reclamation of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ language in its ancestral homeland and beyond. On this Giving Tuesday, November 28, we are asking for your generous gift to support the efforts of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project by helping to fund our program development and expansion plans into 2024.

Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people (sometimes referred to as “Cayuga”) are the original people of the lands surrounding and including Ganę́dagǫ: (Ithaca, NY). Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people today carry with them the ancient history and traditions of these lands, handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years. Some stories describe when the ice melted as glaciers receded after the last Ice Age!

Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ language is now critically endangered, with fewer than ten first language speakers in the world, and only one of whom currently lives here in the ancestral Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ lands. The GLP’s programming creates unique spaces that share Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ language and cultural knowledge while centering Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ-led priorities for today and tomorrow. 

Since early 2021, the GLP has hosted online classes for Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ and other Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih (Haudenosaunee) people living across the United States and Canada as our core offering. Eight 12-week sessions of in-person language classes in downtown Ithaca promoted community engagement and fostered meaningful dialogues. A winter maple workshop supported land-based cultural practice and knowledge transfer. Our summer language camp brought nearly 50 Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ community members back to the homelands. Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ and non-Indigenous community members completed two full seasons of a community garden which included Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ heritage seeds. Our Advisory Board and Working Group have engaged in refined decolonization dialogue and will soon launch an 8-week series dedicated to crucial topics. The GLP team continues to actively build meaningful community partnerships and long-term collaborations. 

Response to our efforts to date has been positive, and we are excited to engage your support for continuing education and outreach activities that realize the following core goals:

· The critically endangered Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ language is revitalized to be heard and spoken locally and throughout North America. 

· Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people are able to speak their history in their own voices.

· A productive dialogue grows between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through exploration of the connections between land, culture, and language.

· The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ language has a renewed presence in its ancestral lands.

· A network of supportive relationships develops with like-minded organizations undertaking similar or complementary language revitalization work.        

Please join us this Giving Tuesday, November 28, and play a vital role in our continued growth into 2024. Your gift will help to amplify Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ voices and make space for pivotal intercultural dialogue.

^{GLP is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action, a 501(c)3 organization. All contributions to CTA are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by tax laws. Please note that your contribution will show up on your credit card statement as "Ctr for Transformative Action.}