October 2, 2023

This was my third time participating in the Blanket Exercise – my first time in Grade 6, around the time that I first learned about residential schools and the truth about Canadian history, my second time in Grade 9, and my third time in university studying to be an educator. Every time I have been a part of the exercise it has been different. I was first introduced to residential schools in Grade 6. We had the schools Indigenous support workers come in two days a week for eight weeks to talk to us about Canadian history. We read literature, we engaged in discussions, we listened to guests in our class, and we participated in the artifact version of the blanket exercise; my artifact represented the children and my main takeaway from the exercise then was that things were never the same. In Grade 9, we started standing on the blankets as they were spread around the floor, we remained on the blankets as they got smaller and moved around the room. This time, we moved with the blankets and were forced to physically remove ourselves from the exercise depending on what happened to us. These events corresponded with issues that Indigenous Peoples in Canada faced in the past and currently face in present. All of these experiences were in extremely different times in my life, occurred in different versions, but all were extremely powerful. I feel that this demonstrates the importance of the blanket exercise and that it is relevant to all of us no matter what and it is adaptable to particular groups.

Photos courtesy of UNBC Education Instagram Page, “The Blanket Exercise”, October 2, 2023.

Each time, what stands out to me the most is the disarray that the space and people are left in after the exercise is complete. The people, place, and land that were once a unified become separated with no connection to what once was. Their foundation was stolen with no whole renewal or intention to rebuild from the government. A new takeaway this time around was how much First Nations Peoples pushed for progress and would receive such a small portion of what was taken in return. We still have a long way to go to work towards restoration of this unity and the communities that were forcefully and harmfully dismantled. We all must be educated on the histories so we can plan our next steps forward. Introducing the blanket exercise catered to a specific age group and setting would be an excellent start. Through this exercise although we may not ever understand depending on our relationship to Canadian history and our individual worldview, but we can begin to empathize with what Indigenous Peoples of Canada go through on a daily basis.