Behind the Bricks
The Life and Times of the Mohawk Institute, Canada's Longest-Running Residential School
Published on 30. September 2025
Book
Hardback
402 pages
978-1-77385-651-3 (ISBN)
Description
From the outside, the Mohawk Institute looks like a large and welcoming school building. When one looks behind the bricks of the school, however, a much different story becomes apparent. Conceived and overseen by Six Nations community member Richard W. Hill Sr., Behind the Bricks is an important work that provides deep insight into the Mohawk Institute, Canada's first, and longest-running, residential school, operating from 1828 to 1970 in Brantford, Ontario. Many see the Mohawk Institute as a model for the residential school system.
Behind the Bricks brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts. The book begins with an overview that traces the history and context of the school, and the remainder of Behind the Bricks touches on a broad array of topics from the experiences of students, to archaeology and architecture, to the role of religion, and beyond, drawing on a wide variety of sources including government documents, church records, and oral history.
Behind the Bricks examines the policies and motivations that shaped the experiences of all three parties involved with the school-the government, the church, and the students and their communities.
A thorough and thoughtful history that provides deep insight into over a century of institutional operation, Behind the Bricks is an essential work that tells us not only about the Mohawk Institute, but the entire residential school system, providing a window into the past with the goal of working towards a future of truth and reconciliation.
Behind the Bricks brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts. The book begins with an overview that traces the history and context of the school, and the remainder of Behind the Bricks touches on a broad array of topics from the experiences of students, to archaeology and architecture, to the role of religion, and beyond, drawing on a wide variety of sources including government documents, church records, and oral history.
Behind the Bricks examines the policies and motivations that shaped the experiences of all three parties involved with the school-the government, the church, and the students and their communities.
A thorough and thoughtful history that provides deep insight into over a century of institutional operation, Behind the Bricks is an essential work that tells us not only about the Mohawk Institute, but the entire residential school system, providing a window into the past with the goal of working towards a future of truth and reconciliation.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Calgary
Canada
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
89 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
1124 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-77385-651-3 (9781773856513)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
With contributions by: William (Bill) Acres, Diana Castillo, Sarah Clarke, Jimmie Edgar, Wendy L. Fletcher, Bonnie Freeman, Tara Froman, Alexandra Giancarlo, Cody Groat, Evan J. Habkirk, Richard W. Hill Sr., Keith Jamieson, Sandra Juutilainen, Magdalena Milosz, David Monture, Teri Morrow, John Moses, Alison Norman, Thomas Peace, Jennifer Pettit, Paul Racher, and Bud Whiteye.
Richard W. Hill Sr., Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee, is a community-based historian at Six Nations of Grand River.
Alison Norman is a settler historian who works for the federal government at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
Thomas Peace is an historian at Huron University College and an editor at ActiveHistory.ca.
Jennifer Pettit is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and professor of History and Indigenous Studies at Mount Royal University.
Richard W. Hill Sr., Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee, is a community-based historian at Six Nations of Grand River.
Alison Norman is a settler historian who works for the federal government at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
Thomas Peace is an historian at Huron University College and an editor at ActiveHistory.ca.
Jennifer Pettit is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and professor of History and Indigenous Studies at Mount Royal University.
Content
Preface
Richard W. Hill, Sr.
Introduction
Jennifer Pettit
The Russ Moses Residential School Memoir
John Moses and Russ Moses
Part One: Historical Overview and Context of the Mohawk Institute
1. "To Shake Off the Rude Habits of Savage Life": The Foundations of the Mohawk Institute to the Early 1900s
Jennifer Pettit
2. "The Difficulties of Making an Indian into a White Man Were Not Thoroughly Appreciated": The Mohawk Institute, 1904 to Present
Jennifer Pettit
Part Two: Teachers, Curriculum, and Tools of Control
3. The Indian Normal School: The Role of the Mohawk Institute in the Training of Indigenous Teachers in the Late 9th Century
Alison Norman
4. Teaching Control and Service: The Use of Military Training at the Mohawk Institute
Evan Habkirk
5. "New Weapons": Race, Indigeneity, and Intelligence Testing a thte Mohawk Institute, 1920 - 1949
Alexandra Giancarlo
Part Three: The Building, The Grounds, and Commemoration
6. A "Model" School: An Architectural History of the Mohawk Institute
Magdalena Milosz
7. The Stewardship, Preservation, and Commemoration of the Mohawk Institute
Cody Groat
Part Four: Survival and Resistance
8. Ten Years of Student Resistance at the Mohawk Institute, 1903- 1913
Diana Casillo
9. eh?wadihsad? ne:?hni? adigyen?:gye?s ganaha?gwe? eyag?nhehg?h?:k/They buried them, but they the seeds floated around what will sustain them.
Teri Lyn Morrow, Bonnie Freeman, and Sandra Juutilainen
Part Five: The New England Company and the Mohawk Institute
10. A Model to Follow?: The Sussex Vale Indian School
Thomas Peace
11. Robert Ashton, The New England Company, and the Mohawk Institute, 1872- 1910
Bill Acres
12. The Lands of the Mohawk Institute: Robert Ashton and the Demise of the New England Company's "Station," 1891 - 1922
Bill Acres
Part Six: Student Experiences and Voices
13. Life at the Mohawk Institute During the 1860s
Thomas Peace
14. Collecting the Evidence: Restoration and Archaeology at the Mohawk Institute
Sarah Clarke, Paul Racher, and Tara Froman
15. Collective Trauma and the Role of Religion in the Mohawk Institute Experience
Wendy Fletcher
16. Concluding Voices - Survivor Stories of Life Behind the Bricks
Richard W. Hill, Sr.
Closing Poems
Jimmie Edgar
Bud Whiteye
David Monture
Acknowledgements
Appendix One: History of Six Nations Education by Jamieson
Keith Jamieson Appendix
Two: Mohawk Institute Students Who Became Teachers Suggested Reading
Richard W. Hill, Sr.
Introduction
Jennifer Pettit
The Russ Moses Residential School Memoir
John Moses and Russ Moses
Part One: Historical Overview and Context of the Mohawk Institute
1. "To Shake Off the Rude Habits of Savage Life": The Foundations of the Mohawk Institute to the Early 1900s
Jennifer Pettit
2. "The Difficulties of Making an Indian into a White Man Were Not Thoroughly Appreciated": The Mohawk Institute, 1904 to Present
Jennifer Pettit
Part Two: Teachers, Curriculum, and Tools of Control
3. The Indian Normal School: The Role of the Mohawk Institute in the Training of Indigenous Teachers in the Late 9th Century
Alison Norman
4. Teaching Control and Service: The Use of Military Training at the Mohawk Institute
Evan Habkirk
5. "New Weapons": Race, Indigeneity, and Intelligence Testing a thte Mohawk Institute, 1920 - 1949
Alexandra Giancarlo
Part Three: The Building, The Grounds, and Commemoration
6. A "Model" School: An Architectural History of the Mohawk Institute
Magdalena Milosz
7. The Stewardship, Preservation, and Commemoration of the Mohawk Institute
Cody Groat
Part Four: Survival and Resistance
8. Ten Years of Student Resistance at the Mohawk Institute, 1903- 1913
Diana Casillo
9. eh?wadihsad? ne:?hni? adigyen?:gye?s ganaha?gwe? eyag?nhehg?h?:k/They buried them, but they the seeds floated around what will sustain them.
Teri Lyn Morrow, Bonnie Freeman, and Sandra Juutilainen
Part Five: The New England Company and the Mohawk Institute
10. A Model to Follow?: The Sussex Vale Indian School
Thomas Peace
11. Robert Ashton, The New England Company, and the Mohawk Institute, 1872- 1910
Bill Acres
12. The Lands of the Mohawk Institute: Robert Ashton and the Demise of the New England Company's "Station," 1891 - 1922
Bill Acres
Part Six: Student Experiences and Voices
13. Life at the Mohawk Institute During the 1860s
Thomas Peace
14. Collecting the Evidence: Restoration and Archaeology at the Mohawk Institute
Sarah Clarke, Paul Racher, and Tara Froman
15. Collective Trauma and the Role of Religion in the Mohawk Institute Experience
Wendy Fletcher
16. Concluding Voices - Survivor Stories of Life Behind the Bricks
Richard W. Hill, Sr.
Closing Poems
Jimmie Edgar
Bud Whiteye
David Monture
Acknowledgements
Appendix One: History of Six Nations Education by Jamieson
Keith Jamieson Appendix
Two: Mohawk Institute Students Who Became Teachers Suggested Reading