Can we talk about the Blanket Exercise?

I know this exercise is still being used in many places as a way to support learning about this land and what has happened to Indigenous peoples since contact. On the surface, it sounds like a good and necessary thing. I believe deeply that the more we come to understand our shared history, the better we can all be in our relationships, in our responsibilities, and in the ways we move to a place of greater understanding of colonization.

The Blanket Exercise was created in 1997, following the work of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which called for more education about Indigenous histories and realities in this country. It was developed by a collective of people, with KAIROS Canada and the United Church of Canada. The intention was to create an experiential way for people to learn and something that could be felt, not just read or heard.

In the exercise, blankets are laid out across the floor to represent the land. Participants stand on them as the story unfolds. Over time, the blankets are folded, removed, or taken away, mirroring the loss of land, language, and life. Some participants are given roles. Some become children taken to residential schools. Some are named as those who never came home.

I have stood in that room. I have witnessed this process.

And I have watched Indigenous participants be asked to step into those roles. To embody that loss. To carry that weight, even for a moment. I have seen the impact land in their bodies in ways that are hard to put into words. Afterward, they needed time, real time to recover from what they had just been asked to hold. This is an unfair ask for Indigenous People and Indigenous students in education programs to be a part of. This harm cannot be taken back. So I encourage all those who are going to step into this work to always allow Indigenous participants the choice to participate or not.

I also find myself asking: what are we doing in the name of education?

Is it necessary to cause harm in order to teach something important?

This is where I sit with the discomfort of the Blanket Exercise. Because while the exercise is often described as powerful, I question what kind of power it holds. Much of it seems to rest in evoking guilt, creating a moment where people feel deeply, sometimes overwhelmingly so. But as an educator, I have learned that guilt does not sustain learning. It does not move people into action or accountability. It may open an emotional door, but it rarely shows people how to walk through it.

I have seen people cry. I have heard them say how sad it is. And then I have watched them return to their lives without changing what they do, how they teach, or how they engage with Indigenous communities and knowledges.

My other wonder in this work, is where is the Indigenous Brilliance and Resistance? There are so many gaps in this exercise because it does not show the push back, it does not show how strong Indigenous People are and what we have done through this time to keep our language and culture alive, and the fact that we are still here fighting. It does not show the Indigenous People in history that have fought for Indigenous Rights, it does not teach about Indigenous People as strong and powerful people. It shows the harms non-Indigenous people have done to Indigenous Peoples.

So, again this exercise is not telling the story of Indigenous Peoples, it is again about the colonial narrative that we are victims, and we are not. By using this resource, you are also contributing and perpetuating that negative colonial narrative.

In my teaching I teach about the history of this land and the stories it holds. I also put forward the Indigenous Brilliance that are in these lands and peoples of this land. I also talk about the Indigenous Change Makers that have worked so hard to change the laws and policies that have harmed Indigenous Peoples. This is what is needed in all the teaching you do about Indigenous Peoples, we are so much more than our trauma.

What I would like you to think about when teaching about the shared colonial history of this place, is what would it look like to teach this history in a way that builds responsibility instead of guilt? In a way that honours Indigenous peoples without asking them to relive harm? In a way that invites learners not just to feel, but to act, to reflect, and to change?

This is an invitation to think differently about how we teach, how we learn, and how we hold this work with care.