A plaque in the foyer of the former Mohawk Institute residential school asks visitors to help identify unnamed survivors in exhibition photos.
"We do not know the names of some of the people in the photos used in the exhibition.
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If you recognize someone, please share that information," the plaque reads.
The building operated as a residential school from 1828 to 1970, part of a Canadian policy to eliminate First Nations as a distinct cultural group.
Historical records describe brutal conditions where children faced physical punishments for speaking Indigenous languages and suffered rampant sexual abuse by staff.
Meals were strictly limited to watery oatmeal, and escape attempts led to solitary confinement for days.
The building reopened last year as a museum tasked with documenting the realities of the residential school system and colonial structures.
Thousands of children passed through the institution during its 140 years of operation, and many individuals in the photographs remain unidentified.
Survivors across Canada face ongoing decisions regarding physical school spaces, mirroring global memorial efforts seen in Poland and Cambodia.
In 2013, survivors in Brantford voted to reclaim the school site rather than demolishing the physical structure.
"I am really grateful that the decision was made to keep the building," said Heather George, executive director of the Woodland Cultural Centre.
George noted that the center uses Indigenous art, languages, social dancing, and the museum itself as forms of protest against the original system.
