Former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ont., nearly ready to open as public museum
Before the opening this fall, the Woodland Cultural Centre also has events planned for Indigenous Peoples Day
The former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ont., will open to the public as a museum for the first time this fall — marking a major milestone in the site's history, as well as for survivors and the Woodland Cultural Centre that's worked for years to transform it.
It will open Sept. 30, on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, says Heather George, the Woodland Cultural Centre's executive director.
"What better time to reopen Mohawk Institute as this evidence of the lives, the stories of children and all of the work that our communities have done to ensure the goal of residential schools are not what our communities are – we are about language and cultural reclamation," George said.
The Woodland Cultural Centre also has a full slate of activities planned for National Indigenous Peoples Day this Saturday — including the opening of Canada's longest-running, contemporary, Indigenous juried art show. Pieces will be on display in the centre's gallery next to the Mohawk Institute building.
"It's really important for Canadians to come and bear witness both to the beautiful and powerful things we do at Woodland, but also the really hard stories we are telling, too," said George.
The Mohawk Institute was the longest-running residential school in Canada, opening in 1828 as a day school for boys from the reserve, before accepting boarders and girls in 1834, according to the Survivors' Secretariat. It closed in 1970 after about 15,000 children from over 60 communities across Canada had been forced to attend the school.
At least 105 died while enrolled there, the secretariat estimates. Students died of illness or injury, or ran away and died elsewhere.
The residential school system forced Indigenous children to leave their families and cut ties to their culture, language and traditions. Children suffered horrific abuse at residential schools, including the Mohawk Institute.
Events planned for National Indigenous Peoples Day
The Woodland Cultural Centre was established two years after the Mohawk Institute closed. Its work includes teaching about the history of the residential school, as well as collecting artifacts, survivor stories and research.
The building required extensive repairs, which the centre paid for through government funding and private donations, through the centre's Save the Evidence fundraising campaign. That work has now been done and starting in the fall, the building will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday.
Woodland is also continuing to work on a new cultural centre building on site, which will serve as a performance, arts and community space. It's raised $3.5 million for capital costs, a campaign bolstered by the family of the late Six Nations musician Robbie Robertson, who requested people support the centre's work in his name.
George said the team will be conducting community consultation on what should be included in the space, like for example a community kitchen, but the project is still years away from breaking ground.
It all fits into Woodland's focus on preserving and strengthening Indigenous language, culture and art, or, as George puts it, "celebrating everything we still have that our family members worked so hard to ensure all that knowledge wasn't taken away."
For National Indigenous Peoples Day this Saturday, the centre has plans to do just that on its grounds and in its galleries next to the residential school building, including the art show, now its 50th year. An opening reception will be held Friday evening.
"We're really, really excited for that show," George said. "It's an exhibition that brings together emerging artists and more senior artists, working in any medium at any point in their career."
There'll also be workshops for families to try different art techniques and learn about Haudenosaunee pottery. The centre's permanent and temporary exhibits will be open for free from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
"For our community members, I always hope they see themselves reflected in the stories and art we are sharing and it brings them joy," George said. "For the non-Indigenous community, I really hope this is their opportunity to engage directly with Indigenous artists and knowledge keepers."
Singer Lacey Hill, of the Oneida Wolf Clan and nearby Six Nations of the Grand River, launched her music career after performing at an open mic event at the Woodland Cultural Centre about a decade ago.
The centre and the artists it supports demonstrate the "amazing" things Indigenous people have done in spite of colonialism, genocide and places like the Mohawk Institute, Hill said.
About preserving it as a museum, Hill said she supports it, although "a certain percentage" of her wants to see it "burned down to the ground."
"But what's that going to do?" she said. "At least this way, it's there and it's doing good, and everyone who goes there should remember, 'Hey, I should be following my gifts and my skills and the things that I love because these kids weren't able to do it.'"
Hill will be performing at National Indigenous Peoples Day events in Guelph on Friday and Hamilton and Mississauga on Saturday.
A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected.
Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.
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