Former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ont., nearly ready to open as public museum

Samantha Beattie · CBC

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 20

The erstwhile Mohawk Institute Residential School successful Brantford, Ont., volition open to the nationalist arsenic a museum for the archetypal clip this autumn — marking a large milestone successful the site's history, arsenic good arsenic for survivors and the Woodland Cultural Centre that's worked for years to transform it. 

It volition unfastened Sept. 30, connected the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, says Heather George, the Woodland Cultural Centre's executive director. 

"What amended clip to reopen Mohawk Institute arsenic this grounds of the lives, the stories of children and each of the enactment that our communities person done to guarantee the extremity of residential schools are not what our communities are – we are astir connection and taste reclamation," George said.

The Woodland Cultural Centre besides has a afloat slate of activities planned for National Indigenous Peoples Day this Saturday — including the opening of Canada's longest-running, contemporary, Indigenous juried creation show. Pieces volition beryllium connected show successful the centre's assemblage adjacent to the Mohawk Institute building. 

"It's truly important for Canadians to travel and carnivore witnesser some to the beauteous and almighty things we bash astatine Woodland, but besides the truly hard stories we are telling, too," said George.  

The Mohawk Institute was the longest-running residential school in Canada, opening successful 1828 arsenic a time schoolhouse for boys from the reserve, earlier accepting boarders and girls successful 1834, according to the Survivors' Secretariat. It closed successful 1970 aft astir 15,000 children from implicit 60 communities crossed Canada had been forced to be the school. 

At slightest 105 died portion enrolled there, the secretariat estimates. Students died of unwellness oregon injury, oregon ran distant and died elsewhere. 

The residential schoolhouse strategy forced Indigenous children to permission their families and cut ties to their culture, connection and traditions. Children suffered horrific maltreatment astatine residential schools, including the Mohawk Institute. 

Events planned for National Indigenous Peoples Day

The Woodland Cultural Centre was established 2 years aft the Mohawk Institute closed. Its work includes teaching about the past of the residential school, arsenic good arsenic collecting artifacts, subsister stories and research. 

The gathering required extended repairs, which the centre paid for done government funding and backstage donations, done the centre's Save the Evidence fundraising campaign. That enactment has present been done and starting successful the fall, the gathering volition beryllium open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. 

WATCH | Heather George on NIPD and reopening the erstwhile Mohawk Institute Residential School: 

Woodland is besides continuing to enactment connected a new taste centre gathering connected site, which volition service arsenic a performance, arts and assemblage space. It's raised $3.5 cardinal for superior costs, a run bolstered by the household of the precocious Six Nations instrumentalist Robbie Robertson, who requested people enactment the centre's enactment successful his name. 

George said the squad volition beryllium conducting assemblage consultation connected what should beryllium included successful the space, similar for illustration a assemblage kitchen, but the task is inactive years distant from breaking ground. 

It each fits into Woodland's focus on preserving and strengthening Indigenous language, civilization and art, or, arsenic George puts it, "celebrating everything we inactive person that our household members worked truthful hard to ensure all that cognition wasn't taken away." 

For National Indigenous Peoples Day this Saturday, the centre has plans to bash conscionable that connected its grounds and successful its galleries adjacent to the residential schoolhouse building, including the creation show, present its 50th year. An opening reception volition beryllium held Friday evening.

"We're really, truly excited for that show," George said. "It's an accumulation that brings unneurotic emerging artists and much elder artists, moving successful immoderate mean astatine immoderate constituent successful their career." 

There'll besides beryllium workshops for families to effort antithetic creation techniques and learn astir Haudenosaunee pottery. The centre's imperishable and impermanent exhibits will beryllium unfastened for escaped from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. 

"For our assemblage members, I ever anticipation they spot themselves reflected successful the stories and creation we are sharing and it brings them joy," George said. "For the non-Indigenous community, I truly anticipation this is their accidental to prosecute straight with Indigenous artists and cognition keepers." 

Singer Lacey Hill, of the Oneida Wolf Clan and adjacent Six Nations of the Grand River, launched her euphony vocation aft performing astatine an unfastened mic lawsuit astatine the Woodland Cultural Centre astir a decennary ago. 

The centre and the artists it supports demonstrate the "amazing" things Indigenous radical person done successful spite of colonialism, genocide and places similar the Mohawk Institute, Hill said.

About preserving it arsenic a museum, Hill said she supports it, though "a definite percentage" of her wants to spot it "burned down to the ground."

"But what's that going to do?" she said. "At slightest this way, it's determination and it's doing good, and everyone who goes determination should remember, 'Hey, I should beryllium pursuing my gifts and my skills and the things that I emotion due to the fact that these kids weren't capable to bash it.'" 

Hill volition beryllium performing astatine National Indigenous Peoples Day events successful Guelph connected Friday and Hamilton and Mississauga connected Saturday. 

A nationalist 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is disposable astatine 1-866-925-4419 for affectional and situation referral services for survivors and those affected. 

Mental wellness counselling and situation enactment are besides disposable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week done the Hope for Wellness hotline astatine 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.