“The Blanket Exercise” ~ Relearning First Nations’ History
KUC hosted a “Blanket Exercise” Saturday, December 5th, from 2 PM until 4:30 PM in the Church Sanctuary. This interactive learning experience teaches the Indigenous rights history we’re rarely taught. Originally developed by Kairos in response to the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, recommended education on Canadian-Indigenous history as one of the key steps to reconciliation. The recently released Truth and Reconciliation Summary Report also recommends further education on First Nations History. See TRC Summary for further information.
Blanket Exercise participants took on the roles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. as readers covered a time of over 500 years. Standing on blankets that represent the land, they walked through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. Participants were directed by facilitators representing narrators and the European colonizers, and by reading scrolls and carrying cards which ultimately determined their outcomes. For more details on the blanket exercise process,visit http://kairosblanketexercise.
Following the exercise, we discussed the experience in a talking circle.