The Blanket Exercise
Trinity Hall • February 22, 2020 • 10am to 1pm
The Blanket Exercise was developed by Kairos which is a Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative. Kairos has five areas of work: ecological justice, gender justice, indigenous rights, migrant justice, and prophetic witness. Kairos collaborated with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, and educators when creating the Blanket Exercise and has provided training to individuals across Canada to be facilitators of this experiential learning program. Individuals from the Tla’amin Nation and Powell River have been trained in facilitating the Blanket Exercise.
The Blanket Exercise is a unique participatory workshop where participants are able to experience some events in Canadian history as they relate to First Nations people in a very impactful way with a simulated experiential learning format. Many folks who have participated in the Blanket Exercise express afterwards that there are some historical facts shared that they have never heard before. This learning creates greater understanding and helps us build better relationships between
First Nations people and non-First Nations people. It is a step on the reconciliation journey.
It takes about forty-five minutes to go through the exercise, and forty-five minutes to do a debriefing - each person around the circle is invited to comment on how the exercise was for them. Then folks are given an opportunity to be "brushed off" with cedar branches. It is a belief in the Tla'amin culture that cedar is medicine and being brushed is a way to remove difficult feelings and thoughts that have arisen from the exercise. Brushing with cedar branches is a cleansing practice.
After the workshop participants will share a potluck lunch together along with the facilitators and the elder(s) who led the Blanket Exercise.