2026 Niagara Roundtable Conference
The Niagara Roundtable will serve as a new historic Indigenous gathering and forum for meaningful dialogue on the foundational role of Indigenous relations in the making of Canada, and the enduring cultural relations that reinforce the relationship between humans and nature. Building upon the long history of treaty-making, alliance-building, and cross-cultural diplomacy in the Niagara region (which has national implications) the Roundtable aims to foster renewed understandings of the principles of respect, reciprocity, and nation-to-nation relationships.
This compelling event will be held in the Upper Canada Hall of the Pillar and Post Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The conference will feature lectures and presentations that detail Indigenous relations forged within the region. From early 17th century contact through the 1764 Treaty of Niagara, to the numerous and large Indigenous engagements with Crown representatives at the Indian Council House, and through to contemporary contentious times, this focused conceptual knowledge-sharing event will expand attendees’ understanding not only of the Indigenous experience, but how that experience has fundamentally shaped the political, diplomatic, and cultural foundations of Canada.
Registration information and agenda will be forthcoming.
Annual Programs
Indigenous Niagara Outstanding Achievement Awards
The Indigenous Niagara Outstanding Achievement Awards acknowledge and celebrate influential leaders having a positive impact upon the Indigenous Niagara community on both sides of the Niagara River and along the Niagara Escarpment. The awards correspond with the concepts, constructs, and attributes that have come to define the highest standards for Indigenous excellence in six categories. These include Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Intellectual Advancement, Language and Culture, Empathic Traditions, and Two-Row Alliance (for those who support Indigenous peoples). The highly respected Outstanding Achievement Awards have become an esteemed honour, known for revealing the quality, and quantity, of exceptional Indigenous people and allies who are advancing Indigenous relations within the region.
Valour & Victory: Honouring Indigenous Veterans
The Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812, served as an extraordinary expression of historic alliances that extended back generations and marked an essential moment in the emergence of a fledgling country whose borders and character were being tested and defined. In recognition of the contributions and sacrifices made by Six Nations and Native Allies in supporting their British and Canadian compatriots and securing victory at pivotal events at Queenston Heights and throughout the War of 1812, we continue this important annual service, Valour & Victory: Honouring Indigenous Veterans, to remember and honour those who secured our freedom by exhibiting both strength and peacemaking skills.
Publishing
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.
Edited by Richard W. Hill, Sr. (Niagara Academy Vice President), Alison Norman, Thomas Peace, and Jennifer Pettit.
This publication documents a series of extraordinary artworks created by R. G. Miller(Mohawk/Wolf) during 2003-2008, commemorating his experience of incarceration as a child in the Mohawk Institute Indian residential school, during 1953-1964. They show his story of surviving: what the Mohawk Institute was, what happened to him there, and how he has been coping with it ever since. They are disturbing to see because what happened to him in residential school is disturbing. They are truth in painting.
The title for the exhibition of these artworks is given in Mohawk language by Diane Hill, also a Survivor of the Mohawk Institute. Mohawk language was not allowed at the residential school. R. G. Miller never had a chance to learn it. Tsi Non:we Entewaha’hara’ne is translated to mean “Our Path Forward.” It refers to healing, resiliency, learning, and to continue our life journey from darkness towards light. It is in reference to all the peoples Creator has placed together on Turtle Island, travelling together. Non-Natives are healing also from the memories shared through the artistic gifts of R. G. Miller. The use of Mohawk language in this project and publication are moves of survivance.
Contributions from several authors, including Neil Keating, and Richard W. Hill, Sr. (Niagara Academy Vice President), with support from the Niagara Academy for Indigenous Relations.
Exhibit Guidebook for the Mohawk Institute available through the Woodland Cultural Centre. The Mohawk Institute had its start in 1828 as a day school for a dozen or so youths from Six Nations of the Grand River. It grew to become Canada’s first Indian Residential School, and at its height, housed over 200 children from across Ontario, Quebec, and other Indigenous communities within Canada. It closed in 1970.
In 1898, John Brant-Sero and Alexander Hill stated that the Mohawk name for the Institute is Kanadagonh, “In the settlement or village,” related to the name for the Mohawk Village, as Kanadagonkenha, “Old settlement,” within which the Institute was situated.
The current building once housed the Institute and was built in 1904 after a horrific fire destroyed the previous building that had been built in 1859. This building carries the memory of what happened here.
Operated as the Woodland Cultural-Education Centre since 1971, the building became severely dilapidated. After heart-wrenching reflections in 2013, the community at the Six Nations of the Grand River decided that the evidence of what took place should be preserved. The first task was to raise the money to Save-The-Evidence and rehabilitate the decaying structure.
The next step, which took over a decade, was to refurbish the building to make it habitable once again. Many spaces had to be completely renovated, with modernized utilities. However, much of the building is still the way it was when it closed in 1970.
The third step was designing, fabricating, and installing the interpretive heritage exhibitions which began in 2018 and now are found on four floors of the Institute.
The next step is for you to experience, through our exhibition, the history and legacy of Canada’s oldest Indian Residential School.
Edited by Richard W. Hill, Sr. (Niagara Academy Vice President), Tim Johnson (Niagara Academy President), with Preface by Heather George and design by David Beyer (Niagara Academy Associate).
Deyohahá:ge:, “two roads or paths”in Cayuga language, evokes the Covenant Chain-Two Row Wampum, known as the “grandfather of the treaties.” Famously, this Haudenosaunee wampum agreement showed how Indigenous people and newcomers could build peace and friendship by respecting each other’s cultures, beliefs, and laws as they shared the river of life.
Written by members of Six Nations and their neighbours, this book introduces readers not only to the 17th-century history of how the Dutch and British joined the wampum agreement, but also to how it might restore good relations today. Many Canadians and Americans have never heard of the Covenant Chain or Two Row Wampum, but 200 years of disregard have not obliterated the covenant. We all need to learn about this foundational wampum, because it is resurging in our communities, institutions, and courthouses—charting a way to a future.
The writers of Deyohahá:ge: delve into the eco-philosophy, legal evolution, and ethical protocols of two-path peace-making. They tend the sacred, ethical space that many of us navigate between these paths. They show how people today create peace, friendship, and respect—literally—on the river of everyday life.
Edited by Dr. Daniel Coleman (Niagara Academy Associate), Ki’en Debicki, and Bonnie M. Freeman.
Daniel Coleman, a retired English professor from McMaster University and Niagara Academy associate who is grateful to live in the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe in Hamilton, Ontario, worked closely with many Indigenous scholars to produce this study of the wampum covenants that underpin Indigenous relations. In Grandfather of the Treaties, Coleman introduces the founding agreements that the earliest European settlers made with the Haudenosaunee.
Foreword by Niagara Academy Vice President Rick Hill (Tuscarora), a citizen of the Beaver Clan of the Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee at Grand River.
A new edition of the book, Toronto: The First 13,000 Years, has been thoroughly updated to the present time while reflecting new archeological findings and current understandings about Indigenous history and culture, as well as changes in ideas about public history and environmental concerns and practices. Edited and co-authored by Ron Williamson (Niagara Academy for Indigenous Relations Associate), this edition will also showcase beautiful visual content including historical artworks and photos. The first chapter is written by Rob MacDonald (Niagara Academy Associate) and the land acknowledgement was provided by Richard W. Hill Sr. (Niagara Academy Vice President).
Also coming within the year, to be published in association with Mohawk College, will be an updated and expanded version of the book Journey of Self-Discovery: Reflections on Building Indigenous Relationships.