Education and Community Building
Mohawk Village Memorial Park – Playground Equipment
Remember the feeling of chasing friends on the playground? Swinging from the monkey bars? Asking mom for one more push on the swing to soar higher? The Mohawk Village Memorial Fund is a group of survivors from the Mohawk Residential School committed to reclaiming their childhood and making new memories with their families.
Laughter, play and family fun reclaim residential school grounds
Shared grief and cruel memories brought the founders of the Fund together, but they soon realized the potential of the former school grounds. Where girls and boys were once segregated and siblings kept apart, they’ve built a playground and park that invites past students, their families and the public to come together.
Building a new legacy
The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) is privileged to support the Mohawk Village Memorial Fund financially as it builds a new legacy. Funding contributed to the design and construction of the park, playground materials and signage. It is the hope of the organization that former students may form new positive memories within the park with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to ease some of the harm incurred from residential school.
Connection and community forge bright future
The concept and design of the memorial park were created by a group of former Residential School Survivors. Each park feature was chosen specifically with the intent to heal. While the school was still in operation, the living quarters were separated based on age and gender. Females on one side of the school and males on the other. As a result, separations of family members, including siblings, were common and lasted for years.
The park is a physical and symbolic representation of what can be achieved moving forward. It acknowledges the former students at the Mohawk Institute and provides a gathering place to bring families and Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together. This is essential to improving Six Nations’ community strength and building positive relationships.
The negative impacts of the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School are still felt today. But now survivors can return and feel safe to reflect, grieve and create new, happier memories in the space.
The Mohawk Village Memorial Fund Continues to Grow
The Mohawk Village Memorial Park’s mission is to develop and maintain the Mohawk Village Memorial Park to honour the children who attended the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School which operated from 1834 to 1970. For more information on the ongoing work being done or to donate to the fund, visit: https://mohawkvillagepark.com/
Diocese of Hamilton
