On October 2, 2023, I had the privilege of attending my first ever blanket exercise. The exercise was ran by Dr. Daniel Sims, who had help from Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband. The experience was quite profound. The entire class began by standing on a few small blankets and Dr. Sims began to read out historical moments that impacted Indigenous people. Several of us had scrolls that we read aloud as the process unfolded. The scrolls contained various quotes and policies that negatively affected Indigenous people. Some of us were also given white or blue pieces of paper which were used to represent the thousands of Indigenous people that lost their lives to diseases introduced to them by colonizers. Eventually only a small percentage were left standing on the blankets, representing the historical genocide of Indigenous people in Canada. The exercise ended with a group circle, where everyone went around and shared their thoughts and/or feelings about the exercise. I am incredibly grateful to have been present as my colleagues offered up some very touching remarks. We also discussed how we might be able to incorporate a blanket exercise into our classrooms with the help of someone who is trained and qualified to present it. This was a very sad but necessary exercise and I believe the more people that get to experience it the better.
