First Name: Robert

Last Name: Miller

Full Name: Robert Gary Miller

Alternative Names: Robert Gary Miller-Lahiaaks

Date of birth: 1950

Place of birth: Six Nations Mohawk Reserve, Brantford, Ontario

Community / Heritage: Mohawk

Sex: Male

Website: https://www.rgmiller.ca/about

Art Media: Oil, etching, watercolour

Bio:

Robert Gary Miller was born at the Six Nations Mohawk Reserve in Brantford, Ontario, Canada in 1950.

Before the age of three, Miller was taken from his parents and placed into the Mohawk Institute Residential School. Separated from his family, language and culture, Miller spent 11 years enduring abuse. He would go on to channel his traumatic school experiences into his art.

After graduating high school, Miller attended the Ontario College of Art, the University of Toronto, and Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. At the Ontario College of Art, he met and worked alongside Arthur Shilling and Norval Morrisseau. 

Miller’s works have given voice to the intergenerational trauma of families whose children were sent to the residential schools. Almost 50 years after his time in the residential school, Miller was issued a letter of apology by the Huron Diocese of the Anglican Church on October 30, 2017.

Exhibitions

• 1985: Challenges, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1987: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Art, Southeast Museum, Los Angeles, CA
• 1999: Uptown Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
• 2008: Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
• 2009: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University, Canada
• 2013: The Tower Fine Arts Center Gallery, Brockport, New York, USA
• 2013: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University, Canada
• 2013: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre. Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks - Selected works from Mush Hole Remembered (2008)

Articles

• https://www.countryroadshastings.ca/featured-articles-seed/a-warriors-line-of-defence-r-gary-miller-is-standing-firm-brush-in-hand
• https://eu.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2013/10/19/exhibit-explores-abuse-of-six-nations-youths/3089717/
• https://www.brockport.edu/daily_eagle/items/view/5517&issue_date=2013-11-04?id=5517&issue_date=2013-11-04