In this class we participated in The Blanket Exercise which was guided by Dr. Daniel Sims. This was an impactful physical representation of the history of Indigenous People throughout the colonization of Canada.
As this activity covered history that most of us in the class were already aware of, participating in The Blanket Exercise was very different from learning in a lecture or a book. The exercise started with blankets laid out all over the floor and we were asked to sit or stand on the blankets. Some students were also given coloured cards. As the activity progressed, we were told stories of what Indigenous people faced in the past, and as these stories were told we, the indigenous people for the sake of the activity, began leaving the blankets. Blankets were folded and removed as Indigenous people were displaced from their land, and as this happened, we either had to squeeze onto other blankets or leave the activity altogether. One of the most shocking steps in the story was when everyone with white cards had to leave the activity as their lives were taken by diseases that were brought over from Europe – seeing the amount of people that had to leave the activity at this time was overwhelming. It was heart breaking to observe children being moved to separate blankets representing residential schools, only to be returned back but without knowledge of their culture or family anymore.
After the activity we participated in a sharing circle. Many students with Indigenous families and friends expressed deep feelings of how hard this activity was for them as they had to see and feel what has caused their family and friends so much trauma, and see how resilient they had to have been to make it to todays world.
This activity was powerful for me as it was a physical and emotional experience that we participated in – helping us feel a tiny piece of what Indigenous people must have felt over the years.
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