Kingsway Blanket Exercise
Dec 2, 2015
On Thursday, December 3, the Lakehead University Native Access Program will be sharing a lesson in History and Reconciliation with Grades 7 and 8 students. The Kingsway students will be participating in the Blanket Exercise.
“This is an important exercise in restoring relationships, strengthening curriculum through hands on learning and reconciliation,” says Darren Lentz, Principal of Kingsway Park Public School.
Blanket Exercise Information
The KAIROS Blanket Exercise is a teaching tool that uses participatory education to raise awareness of the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada using blankets to represent land.
Participants will take on the role of Indigenous peoples, moving around the land as directed by facilitators. Maps that represent pre-contact and post-contact Canada will be provided for comparison.
Through this exercise participants will explore the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, how this relationship has been damaged over the years, and how they can work toward reconciliation.
Created in 1997, the Blanket Exercise is a succinct overview of Indigenous rights in Canada that explores the major themes and findings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP).
