Kanonhsyonne Jan Hill

Kanonhsyonne Jan Hill never stops working to change the post-secondary landscape. Her career began in grassroots education in 1988 when a ten-day contract turned into ten years at Queen’s University’s Faculty of Education, helping to create the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP). She engaged Indigenous communities to encourage young Indigenous people to become teachers, acting as the community liaison while facilitating student-teacher candidate placements, ultimately serving as the program’s co-director while simultaneously completing a B.Ed. degree at Queen’s.

After graduating, Jan returned to her community of Tyendinaga, where she created change on multiple levels: teaching adult education at the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI), founding and leading a high school rooted in Haudenosaunee culture, and serving as FNTI’s first Academic Dean.

Jan returned to Queen’s in 2010, where she served as the Director of the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre (FDASC) and the Director of Indigenous Initiatives. Under her leadership, the FDASC expanded significantly, supporting many Indigenous students and strengthening the university’s relationships with Indigenous communities. She is currently the Associate Vice-Principal of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation at Queen’s.

Mentorship is integral to Jan’s way of life. She has served as a Turtle Clan Mother in the Longhouse at Tyendinaga for years and is a founding member of the Tsi Tsyonnheht Onkwawenna Language Circle (TTO). She helped found the Haudenosaunee Opportunity for Personal Education (HOPE) program for Mohawk high school students, was a founding member of the Kanhiote Tyendinaga Territory Public Library, co-founded the Kahswentha Indigenous Knowledge Initiative, and served on many committees related to Indigenous education, language, and culture. Her work has made the educational realm safer, more welcoming, and more culturally responsive for Indigenous peoples.