On October 2nd I was honoured to take part in a blanket exercise as a part of our Education 405 class. Prior to attending this class, I was not familiar with what this exercise would entail, however within minutes I quickly realized how deeply impactful this was going to be. You see, my prior understanding of how colonialism in Canada affected our Indigenous Peoples was very limited. If I am being honest, it wasn’t until the government passed the bill to honour September 30th as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation before I became more invested in Canada’s history. Since then, I have found this education program to be even more eye opening as other devastating aspects pertaining to our relationship with Indigenous Peoples have been discussed. After completing the blanket exercise, I can clearly see how impactful and valuable this experiential activity can be. It provides a well rounded picture of past events in a chronological order that has led us to where we are today. I think this can help many of us understand what needs to happen next on our path to reconciliation.
The blanket exercise will get you, for a time at least, walking in someone else’s shoes, and will raise your awareness and understanding of Aboriginal people in Canada.
Rev. curtis korvers, Kairos canada.org
The blanket exercise was a narrated step by step walk through an Indigenous lens of the relationship and events that took place once the colonials arrived. Starting with an “island” of small blankets, everyone standing on these blankets represented an Indigenous person. Some of us were given coloured cards and or numbered scripts to read aloud when requested. These scripts would contain specific events that occurred throughout history that profoundly affected the Indigenous Peoples. Throughout the exercise we were taken through disease, loss of land, social and economic challenges, violence and forced assimilation. With each trauma presented, some of us would be told to leave the blankets representing either marginalization or death. Seeing this play out visually created a deep sense of shame, which then immediately led to empathy.
This exercise was something I am so grateful to be a part of, as it unravelled history in a meaningful and valuable way. It also has shown me that although we have made great strides, aspects of colonialism still exist today. As not only an educator, but a wife, mother and daughter, I hope to use this experience to continue expanding my knowledge and understanding of Indigenous culture and eventually bring this to my classroom through specific informed teaching practices.
References:
Kairos Canada Homepage: www.kairoscanada.org
Kairos Canada Indigenous Rights, Blanket Exercise: www.kairoscanada.org/what-we-do/indigenous-rights/blanket-exercise
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