I had the opportunity to do the “blanket exercise” in class, lead by Dr. Simms and assisted by Dr. Ho-Younghusband. The exercise itself was designed by KAIROS, which was a bit of a surprise for me as I knew the organization but not the exercise. In principle the exercise is designed to drive home the numbers, the scale and the community impact on the Indigenous people of Turtle Island (North America.) For my part I am quite practiced in mental visualization, but even for me it was eye opening. Some of the more notable take-aways:

  1. When the overall territory was reduced and groups were isolated, everyone instinctively moved their blankets inwards to maintain contact between them. It didn’t actually come up in the exercise, although we did talk about land being reduced overall. I feel like the sense of isolation is something we subconsciously rejected but could learn from.
  2. Touching on the first point, there was a dynamism to Indigenous culture that was lost along with so many people and so much land. The free exchange of goods, culture and ideas, the many unique perspectives and new songs and stories to describe the world: all of this was shut down, deliberately.
  3. The scope of Indigenous culture is reinforced both visually and by the royal proclamations that reflect the almost unrecognizable reality of Indigenous nations in the eighteenth century. The loss is similarly driven home.

I don’t think I would presume to lead this exercise but it is a very good one to remember. Also, broadly, it is a reminder of the value of drama, reenactment and physical presence in learning.