Re-neighbouring as Reconciliation: Indigenous Stories of Resistance

Brief Overview

Over fifteen years in the mid-twentieth century, a record number of First Nations and Inuit people were institutionalized near one another in Southern Ontario. The similar yet distinct experiences of two groups of Indigenous people, both displaced from their homes and families and compelled to live in colonial institutions, played out separately, just 40 kilometres apart: First Nations youth sent to the Mohawk Institute and Inuit patients sent to and the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium. Despite their proximity, residents of these colonial institutions had no opportunity to meet, foster community, or learn from each other’s experiences.

Animated by the priorities of Inuit and Haudenosaunee partner organizations, the Woodland Cultural Centre and Nunavut Arctic College, this research will mobilize histories of resistance, expand archival collections, and produce research specific to Indigenous communities.

Goals and Outcomes

The project will use a framework of “re-neighbouring” to connect former residents, their descendants and their communities to their shared histories and each other. The project’s objectives are to:

1. Facilitate Inuit and Haudenosaunee connections outside of state-informed processes of reconciliation.

2. Engage local communities and partner organizations in archival, oral, arts-based, and cultural re-neighbouring activities.
3. Evaluate what forms of access and/or repatriation of records and artefacts from the Mohawk Institute and the Sanatorium will be repatriated/rematriated to Haudenosaunee and Inuit organizations, community members, and stakeholders.
4. Support Indigenous access to archival data and cultural production addressing Haudenosaunee and Inuit experiences at the two institutions.

Throughout its four research streams, the project will develop scholarly, arts-based, archival, digital, geo-spatial, and public-facing research outputs. In addition, the project has a robust program of student mentorship and training, fostering skills in digital competencies, community-engagement, and research communications. Through “re-neighbouring,” our project empowers Indigenous cultures and knowledges as capable of imagining a world where Indigenous peoples do not just survive but continue to rise.

In partnership with the Truth and Reconciliation Network Coordination Hub, this research program convenes Indigenous knowledges and communities in co-created outcomes to approach reconciliation as a form of remembering and healing.

Who’s Involved

• Primary Investigator: Vanessa Watts
• Bonnie Freeman
• Chelsea Gabel
• Amber Dean
• Kara Granzow
• Emma McKenna
• Jackie Price
• Lizzie Aliqatuqtuq
• Heather George
• Jake Jamieson
• Kate Dalton
• Krista Miller
• Melissa Caza
• Tracey Krause
• Myron Groover
• Gillian Dunks
• Shelley Falconer
• Tobi Bruce
• Christine Braun
• Partners:
  • McMaster University
  • University of Lethbridge
  • Nunavut Arctic College
  • Woodland Cultural Centre
  • Art Gallery of Hamilton

Updates

• Working with community members to support Project Naming in identifying photos of Indigenous peoples in Library and Archives Canada
• Provided training for 7 students in Oral History Storytelling Workshop at the University of Lethbridge, summer 2025; project members are also guest speakers and facilitators at this workshop
• Received Research and Ethics Clearance for qualitative research from McMaster University; Ethics Applications in other jurisdictions are currently underway