Featured Contributor

Janice Brant

Kahèhtoktha – Grinding Stone Demonstration

About Janice Brant

Kanyen’keha:ka (Mohawk) Artist, Seed Keeper, Story Teller and Scholar

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario, Canada

Janice Brant is Kanyanke’ha’ka (Mohawk) from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario, Canada. She sits with the Bear Clan and carries on her family heritage as a dedicated farmer. She was given her Mohawk name … Kahèhtoktha … which means, “she goes the length of the garden”.  As a language and culture teacher, Janice perpetuates the knowledge of the Mohawk language and traditions. She loves storytelling, art, history, and cooking.

Kahèhtoktha is devoted to living in the awareness of the connection of all beings of mother earth.  She is an actionist for sacred ecology and seed conservation and helped to found Ratinenhayen:thos “they are farmers of the seed” and the Kenhte:ke Seed Sanctuary & Learning Centre (KSSLC), host to a living seed collection of 300 indigenous and heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers.

As Janice Brant continues to study and practice Kanyenke’ha (Mohawk language) and culture. She shares her gifts and knowledge of the Haudenosaunee ­– The People of the Longhouse, the Iroquois Confederacy – telling of the spirituality, legends, and way of life of the longhouse through her paintings and daily life.

Janice’s article in Narwhal Magazine on the seed sanctuary and seed keeping: https://thenarwhal.ca/tyendinaga-mohawk-territory-seed-sanctuary/