Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, R.G. Miller
789 MB of graphic material.- 110 photographs : col. ; (jpeg, CR2)
143 MB of textual record.- 5 . doc, 4 . docx, 9 .PDF, 5 .TIFF, 1 jpeg
Robert Gary Miller-Lahiaaks was born in 1950 on the Six Nations Mohawk Reserve in Brantford Ontario. At the age of two he was taken from his Longhouse family and his community. Miller served eleven years (1953-1964) in the Mohawk Institute, or as it was known to student-inmates- the Mush Hole. During Miller's time at the Mush Hole he experienced violent daily life that included sexual assault at the hands of staff. Miller uses his art to tell the story of what happened to him and others within the residential school.
"Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks (Mohawk, Six Nations) — Selected works from Mush Hole Remembered (2008)." opened at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre on September 12, 2013. In the words of artist R.G. Miller, this exhibit represents “a combination of vague, mundane memories of years at the school, and flashes of horror experienced there. They are the strongest memories I could approach without descending into a place I would not be able to emerge from.”
Self-portrait, "A Legend in His Own Eyes"
Series comprises photographs and documentation of R.G. Miller's "Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks (Mohawk, Six Nations) — Selected works from Mush Hole Remembered (2008)." which opened at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre on September 12, 2013.
*Content/Trigger Warning* This material deals with matters of child abuse, sexual assault of children, and death.
If you are requiring mental health support after viewing this material please contact the 24 hour Indian Residential Schools crisis support line: 1-866-925-4419
Material in accession 2017-024 was collected by the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre in 2014.
No restrictions on access.
Researchers must adhere to applicable copyright law and privacy legislation and permission of the copyright holder is required to publish from the collection.
Minor conservation preformed on series.
Digital born content.
