In the early days of October 2023, the UNBC Education block 1 cohort was able to participate in the Blanket Exercise. According to Kairos Canada, the goal of the Blanket Exercise is “to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance.” First, many blankets are set up on the ground and all participants are asked to stand on one. We were given cards and different sheets of coloured paper before we started without any context to what they were for.
As we moved through history, the surface area of the blankets became smaller and smaller, and we were able to witness a visual of the impacts that settlers had on First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities. I was given a small white card, later revealed to be an illness that settlers brought overseas from Europe to Canada, which effectively wiped out a devastating amount of Indigenous communities. Eventually the blankets were small enough to only fit one person, and the majority of my classmates were no longer on blankets at all: either displaced, killed by illness and epidemics, or affected by residential schools. Just the visual of this alone was enough to stir up a great deal of emotions and I could see that it affected all of us similarly. The exercise allows us to feel those emotions, and increases a sense of empathy for what Indigenous communities were forced to go through.
We went on to participate in a talking circle where each of us were able to speak on something that we witnessed or experienced. One thing that many of us touched on was the fact that it’s not just giving out facts to students and hoping they resonate or remember. Instead, it’s taking learners on an empathetic journey where we can visualize actual people being sent away and seeing only a few left. How can we even imagine how it must have felt to be displaced from your home, or watch your community and culture fade away?
Before participating I knew absolutely nothing about what the Blanket Exercise was, and I think not knowing really made the experience that much more alarming, unsettling and meaningful. I also felt a sense of honour to be able to experience the Blanket Exercise and reflect on what it means to live, work and play on Lheidli T’enneh territory. I truly believe that every Canadian student should participate in the Blanket Exercise at least once in their lives.
