Calgary group participates in the ‘Blanket Exercise’
The Blanket Exercise, which focuses on a history many Canadians are not taught, was offered in the context of efforts by Bahá’ís across the country to promote truth and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
In recent years, the National Spiritual Assembly has encouraged Bahá’ís to “educate themselves and to build on the wave of prayers that had surged in response to the awakening of so many” to the “tragic history” of residential schools and their “continuing effects.”[1] The Blanket Exercise, an interactive workshop designed by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition to educate both hearts and minds about the history of colonization in Canada, including residential schools, was conducted for Bahá’ís and their friends on December 3rd in northwest Calgary, with a full view of the snow-capped Rockies glowing beyond our windows. The experience went beyond a talk about history.
The day began with a welcome, land acknowledgement, and prayers in both the Blackfoot and English languages. The facilitator, Gayle Strikes With a Gun of Piikani First Nation, a highly-respected educator in both Alberta and the North, along with her assistants Jo Ellen Lyslo, Beverley Knowlton and Amber Strikes With a Gun, skillfully led us through the workshop, which used roleplay and various objects to represent successive stages in the history of the colonization of Canada.
Indigenous items were used during the workshop.
The facilitators narrated the process through a prepared script. Blankets, representing land, were placed beneath our feet. Participants were given goods such as deerskin, rabbit fur, and native plants to happily trade with one another. Some of us had dolls in our arms, representing children, and others were given coloured cards they didn’t yet know the meaning of.
We were subjected to having some of our ‘land’ removed from under us. Another blanket, representing smallpox, was given to a participant.[2] This took many people out of the activity. We next heard the statements of government officials of the time saying that children must be taken from their parents to ‘civilize’ them and ‘take the Indian out of the child.’ After, the dolls were forcibly removed from participants’ arms. One ‘mother’ chose to resist having her doll taken away and the narrator responded by shouting, “Put her in jail!” She was taken to a chair in a far corner of the room, soon joined by another ‘arrested’ individual. One young man held a yellow card in his hand, which indicated that he did not survive the horrors of residential school and died without his parents being informed. He also left the circle.
In the sharing circle that followed, participants readily expressed an extraordinary depth of feeling, and a desire to continue the learning process. One participant said it was the most powerful gathering he’d ever attended. Others showed visible emotion and sadness at what they had learned. Jo Ellen Lyslo, a trained counsellor, was able to help individuals process the experience in private conversation later.
After the event, one individual expressed hope that the workshop could be offered again saying: “It was truly a remarkable and joyous day! Very often the perception of a joyful day is a day that friends gather together to eat food, share music and dance…But today…was about…how to reconcile and what exactly reconciliation means. It was a powerful and meaningful gathering! I am extremely grateful to be a part of this learning process…”
A group photo including the facilitators and workshop participants.
The day ended with a traditional Round Dance. It seems that we went home a changed people, desirous of not only learning more, but of finding ways to act on our learning and become agents of the ‘society-building power’ our Faith asks us to be, and to reorient our relations with others and with Indigenous Peoples in particular. Our Local Spiritual Assembly gifted us with the financial means and encouragement to participate in this activity. We are grateful to them and our presenters.
– Joan Young
[1] From the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada to all Local Spiritual Assemblies, Regional Bahá’í Councils and Registered Groups, 28 September 2022.
[2] Smallpox was carried by European settlers and led to a devastating loss of life in Indigenous communities.
