The blanket exercise is an interactive educational program that teaches the history of colonization in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The program was created in response to the 1996 report of the

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian royal commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. ...

, and is used as a teaching tool across Canada.

History

The 1996 report of the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples contained recommendations to improve relationships between

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

and non-Indigenous Canadians, including education as one of the key steps to reconciliation. In response to these recommendations,

KAIROS ''Kairos'' () is an ancient Greek language, Greek word meaning 'the right or critical moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other being (). ...

, a Canadian faith-based ecumenical organization, developed the program in 1997 in consultation with Indigenous elders and representatives. The

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

in 2015 again identified education as a key area for improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada, after which the blanket exercise grew in popularity.

Format

Blanket exercise events tell the story of Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective. Participants stand on blankets that represent lands inhabited by

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

, and

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

people. The facilitator, playing the role of a European "

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

", walks the group through a script, telling the story of the first contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. As the script progresses, blankets are folded and made smaller, representing the results of the loss of land by treaty and newly legislated reserves. People are asked to step off their blankets, symbolizing disease, war, and extinction. Blankets are removed or moved to other areas, showing the way land was taken and peoples relocated. At the end of the exercise, only a handful of "survivors" are left standing on small squares of blankets, representing the small number of Indigenous people remaining on their traditional lands in Canada. The exercise concludes with the participants discussing the experience in groups.

Events

Blanket exercises have taken place in churches, schools, community centres, and businesses across Canada. In May 2016, a series of blanket exercises were held in capital cities across Canada, culminating in a workshop on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

on May 31, with more than 800 participants.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Official website
History of Indigenous peoples in Canada First Nations education in Canada Indigenous peoples of North America