Hours:
- The museum is open Monday to Friday 9:00am-4:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm; Closed Sunday
- The research library can be used by appointment only, Monday-Friday 9:00am-4:00pm.
- The museum and the research library are closed statutory holidays, Christmas break, and snow days.
Location: 184 Mohawk Street, P.O. Box 1506, Brantford, ON, Canada, N3S 2X2
Access:
- Museum admission (cash only): adults (25-64) $10.00, seniors (65+) $7.00, students (15-24) $7.00, children (4-14) $5.00, children 4 and under (free).
- The research library can be accessed by appointment only. Contact library to book an appointment.
- There is a $10.00 user fee for access to the library resources without a membership.
- Members of the support communities of Six Nations of the Grand River, Tyendinaga and Wahta, and members of the Woodland Cultural Centre receive free admission to the museum and library.
Contact: To book a tour, contact tours@woodlandculturalcentre.ca.
Telephone: 519-759-2650
Website: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/
The Woodland Cultural Centre is a non-profit organization which preserves and promotes the culture and heritage of the First Nations of the Eastern Woodland area. It was established in October 1972 under the direction of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians upon the closure of the Mohawk Institute Residential School. The Centre originally focused on collecting documents and artifacts to develop its library and museum collections. By 1975, the Centre added supporting the arts to its mandate. The Centre maintains a museum, library, art gallery, and language department. It also offers tours, workshops, conferences, and cultural events.
The Woodland Cultural Centre Museum collections contain more than 35,000 artifacts, including archaeological specimens, ethnological materials, historical material, documents, furniture, contemporary paintings, drawings, graphics, sculptures, photographs, fine crafts and contemporary installations. The museum contains one permanent gallery and three smaller galleries for temporary exhibitions and an Orientation Hall. The archeological and ethnographic collections displayed in the permanent gallery present a dramatic storyline beginning with the Iroquoian and Algonkian prehistoric past through to the 21st century. The Orientation Hall can be used for theatrical events, symposiums, workshops, and private functions.
The Woodland Cultural Centre Library collections include books, journals, exhibition catalogues, and theses. Archival materials include letters, documents, newspapers, and manuscripts. The library collections can be searched via an online catalogue.
Highlights of the library collections include:
- The final report, interviews, and other volumes produced by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
- Resources on Residential Schools, particularly the Mohawk Institute Residential School, which was the predecessor to the Woodland Cultural Centre
- First Nation language dictionaries and teaching materials
- Lists of cemetery internments and church records
- Newspapers such as Tekawennake, Windspeaker, Anishinabek News, Indian Life, Kahtou, and Metis Voyageur
- The collections of anthropologists Annemarie Shimony, author of Conservatism Among the Iroquois at the Grand River, and Sally Weaver, author of Medicine and Politics on the Grand River
The Art Gallery holds rotating exhibits which present contemporary works of art by First Nations artists. The Centre also holds an annual juried art exhibition, First Nations Art, which features First Nations artists from across Canada and the United States, both established and emerging artists.
The Language Department is dedicated to rationalizing, revitalizing and maintaining First Nations Languages, locally, regionally and nationally. The Department maintains audio/CD/digital collections as well as transcriptions and translations of the ceremonial, funerary, and spiritual rituals of the Six Nations of the Grand River.