The Blanket Exercise
West Hill United has been invited to join Rabbi Denise Handlarski, spiritual leader and Program Director of the Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, as they lead a
Blanket Exercise.
We plan to meet at the Borochov Cultural Centre in North York on Sunday June 25th at 4 p.m. MAP Spots are limited due to the venue; please let us know you'd like to attend so we can RSVP on your behalf.
ABOUT THE BLANKET EXERCISE
"The KAIROS Blanket Exercise is an interactive learning experience that teaches the Indigenous rights history we’re rarely taught. Developed in response to the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples—which recommended education on Canadian-Indigenous history as one of the key steps to reconciliation, the Blanket Exercise covers over 500 years of history in a one and a half hour participatory workshop.
Blanket Exercise participants take on the roles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Standing on blankets that represent the land, they walk through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. They are directed by facilitators representing a narrator (or narrators) and the European colonizers. Participants are drawn into the experience by reading scrolls and carrying cards which ultimately determine their outcomes. By engaging on an emotional and intellectual level, the Blanket Exercise effectively educates and increases empathy. Ideally, the exercise is followed by a debriefing session in which participants have the opportunity to discuss the experience as a group. This often takes the form of a talking circle." - Kairos