Research summary
In the mid-20th century, First Nations youth at the Mohawk Institute Residential School and Inuit patients at the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium were institutionalized just 40 kilometres apart—yet remained unaware of one another. Both groups experienced forced assimilation under colonial systems. As Canada Research Chair in Colonial Histories and Indigenous Futures, Dr. Vanessa Watts is addressing these intertwined histories through a process called “re-neighbouring,” which connects communities, descendants, and knowledge holders across Indigenous nations.
Guided by Inuit and Haudenosaunee partner organizations, she and her research team are mobilizing stories of resistance, expanding archival records, and engaging in community-led remembrance. By combining oral history, archival work, cultural exchange and the arts, their work is supporting Indigenous-led healing and education. Watts is also exploring how access to institutional records can support justice and belonging. Together, these efforts reimagine reconciliation not as a government-led process, but as a community-driven act of remembering, connecting and rising.