In Kanien'kehá:ka culture, giving thanks is central, and meetings and gatherings customarily begin with the Ohen:ten Kariwatekwén, or Thanksgiving Address, and close with similar words that acknowledge the elements of creation, including the People, the Earth, the Plants, the Three Sisters, the Waters, the Animals, the Trees, the Birds, the Winds, the Thunderers, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Four Beings, and the Creator, while expressing thanks and a responsibility to care for these gifts. Akwesasne is committed to passing the traditions of its ancestors to future generations. Starting in the mid 1800s, the United States and Canada built Residential Schools as part of a concerted policy to take language and culture away from Native people, often through religious institutions, by removing children from their homes and communities and imposing another culture and language in hopes of assimilation into White society, greatly diminishing the number of people who speak Native languages and practice Native cultures. The text also presents Mohawk place names and everyday words, explains that Kanien'kehá:ka is the original name for the Mohawk people and means People of the Flint, notes that the Mohawk language is called Kanien'kéha, and highlights ongoing classes for all ages and cultural centers, artists, and institutions in Akwesasne that support language, arts, and cultural understanding.