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Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost & Bi-Giwen: Coming Home, Truth Telling from the Sixties Scoop

Duration: End of January 2025 – June 2025 in Partnership with the City of Waterloo Museum, Legacy of Hope Foundation, Protect the Tract, and Dakota Brant.

The City of Waterloo Museum is honoured to present two impactful exhibitions in partnership with the Legacy of Hope Foundation: Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost and Bi-Giwen: Coming Home - Truth-Telling from the Sixties Scoop. Both exhibits examine the devastating effects of Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop on Indigenous communities while highlighting resilience and the journey toward healing and Reconciliation.

Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost explores the lasting impacts of Canada’s Residential Schools. For over a century, Indigenous children as young as four were forcibly taken from their families, forbidden to speak their languages or practice their culture, and placed in institutions run by religious orders in collaboration with the Federal Government. More than 150,000 children attended these schools, enduring neglect, physical and emotional abuse, and cultural erasure. Generations of Survivors and their families continue to feel the trauma caused by these institutions. Remarkably, many have preserved their languages, cultures, and traditions, drawing strength from Indigenous teachings and their way of life.

Bi-Giwen: Coming Home, Truth Telling from the Sixties Scoop sheds light on the Sixties Scoop, a period beginning in the 1960s when Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and placed in non-Indigenous foster and adoptive homes, often far from their communities or across the globe. Developed with input from the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network, the exhibition features powerful oral testimonies from 12 Indigenous Survivors. Their stories reflect profound pain and loss, courage, resilience, and strength.

In addition to these exhibitions, the City of Waterloo Museum will feature Bead the Tract, an artistic representation of the Haldimand Tract created by Protect the Tract. A stunning map, crafted to honour the Haudenosaunee connection to the Grand River watershed, showcases the traditional art of raised beadwork. Bead the Tract was created by Protect the Tract in collaboration with Haudenosaunee raised beadwork artists Talena Atfield, Jija Jacobs, Tesha Emarthle, and Kahionwinehshon Phillips. Protect the Tract is a Haudenosaunee-led initiative that promotes land stewardship and exercises sovereignty through education, policy development, and engagement.

An original graphic recording by Mohawk artist Teyotsihstokwáthe (Dakota Brant) will weave together themes from the national story of Residential Schools with the local history of the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, connecting them to the Haldimand Tract, where the City of Waterloo is situated today. Dakota Brant is an artist, entrepreneur, speaker, and author dedicated to Indigenous storytelling and education. Her work raises awareness of residential schools' local and national impacts.

Exhibition Dates:

• Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost - end of January to mid-April 2025
• Bi-Giwen: Coming Home, Truth Telling from the Sixties Scoop mid-April to June 13, 2025
• Bead the Tract and graphic recordings by Dakota Brant: January 21 to June 13, 2025

Resources for learning and information about local Indigenous organizations will be available in the exhibition space.

Join us as we reflect on these vital histories and support the ongoing journey of truth, healing, and Reconciliation.

Please note: This exhibit contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some visitors, especially to Survivors of the Residential School System. Please call the crisis line if you or someone you know is triggered while viewing the exhibition content. National Indian Residential School Crisis Line for former Residential School students: 1-866-925-4419

Add your voice

The City of Waterloo Museum invites groups, curators, photographers and artists to submit proposals for future exhibitions. The Waterloo mandate must be reflected in the exhibition: The City of Waterloo Museum is a vibrant heritage portal where residents and visitors personally connect with Waterloo’s past, building shared experiences and enhancing culture in our community.

The City of Waterloo Museum serves as a community-gathering place where residents and visitors celebrate their stories, both local and global, which are unique to the City’s growth and evolution. Through its collections, exhibitions, volunteers, staff and programs, the Museum interprets the fabric of our past and points the way to its future.

For more information on The City of Waterloo Museum's exhibit space, exhibit schedule, and exhibit proposal submission requirements, see below: