The KAIROS Blanket Exercise is an interactive learning experience that teaches the Indigenous rights history most Canadians never learned in school. Developed by KAIROS with assistance from Indigenous elders, it’s been offered thousands of times across Canada and now you have an opportunity to experience it at Starfields: A Festival of Hope.
The exercise uses blankets to represent the lands of what is now called Canada and the distinct cultures and nations which live on this land to this day. Participants become the First Peoples of Turtle Island and when they move onto the blankets, are taken back in time to the arrival of the Europeans. Reading from a script, the narrator(s) and Europeans guide the participants through the history of treaty-making, colonization and resistance.
This exercise is accessible to anyone over the age of 11 and is not overly detailed, while still managing to convey the historical record clearly and accurately. There is no charge for this event.
As the story unfolds, hearts and minds are opened. In the circle debrief afterwards, Indigenous partners challenge us to own this shared history and move forward together on the reconciliation path.
KAIROS Victoria is grateful to the Lekwungen People, on whose traditional lands and territories, we will be hosting the Blanket Exercise. All our relations!
For more information about the Blanket Exercise, contact info@starfields.ca
For more information about the Festival, go here: http://starfields.ca