The School
The Mohawk Institute: the school that was promised, what it became, and what the Nation keeps of it.
The building as it stands, restored to be walked through and learned from, as a morning comes up behind it. The owl on the roof watches over learning; tap it.
A quiet minute
For anyone who wants a moment: the page dims to dusk, and one window is lit. Nothing is counted or named.
The years
Tap a year to read it.
If you need to talk
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line answers day and night, toll-free: 1-866-925-4419. The Hope for Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310.
The writing on the walls
During the restoration, workers found the children’s own writing on the walls, some from the early 1900s, and kept it where it was. It is shown here only as marks; the words are theirs, and they are kept in the building.
At a glance
| Opened | 1828, the Mechanics’ Institute, by the New England Company |
|---|---|
| Residential | boys from 1831, girls from 1834, to 1970: the longest-running |
| The building | 1904, after a fire most likely set by students |
| Deaths | 54 recorded; community leaders say the records are incomplete |
| Closed | 27 June 1970 |
| Woodland Cultural Centre | opened in the building in 1972 |
| Save the Evidence | the restoration, $23.5 million |
| The ground search | from November 2021, some 500 acres, led by the Survivors’ Secretariat |
| Where | 184 Mohawk Street, Brantford |
The Calls to Action on the missing children
| 71 | every record of a child’s death given to the National Centre |
|---|---|
| 72 | a national register of the children who died |
| 73 | an online register of the schools’ cemeteries |
| 74 | families told where their children lie, their wishes kept |
| 75 | the cemeteries found, kept and protected, the families leading |
| 76 | the community leads; survivors heard first; privacy respected |
The promise restored
The school that was promised was one that would keep a people. It is being built now, by the people themselves: Mohawk and Cayuga language-immersion schools on Six Nations, Six Nations Polytechnic, and the Nation’s own teaching, begun within Mohawk University of Grand River Country.
In eight lines
- The promise. A school, the second of three: to learn, and to keep a people.
- 1828. The Mechanics’ Institute; boarders from 1831, girls from 1834.
- What it became. The oldest and longest-running residential school; the children called it the Mush Hole.
- 1904. The brick building, after a fire.
- 1970. Closed; in 1972 the Woodland Cultural Centre opened in it.
- The Nation’s record. The office’s mandate of 12 April 2011, under its own seal.
- Today. Restored as a site of conscience.
- The promise restored. The people’s own schools teach in Mohawk and Cayuga from the first day.
The printed poster
Download the poster as printed, A3, full quality: the-school.pdf