Developed by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition and Indigenous elders and teachers in 1996, The Blanket Exercise is an interactive way of learning a history that many Canadians were never taught.  The goal of the exercise is to build understanding of our shared history as Canadians, by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance from the perspective of First Nations peoples.  Using blankets as a visual representation of land, we witnessed various actions of force and deception that over time took away that land and decimated families, communities, diverse cultures and languages.

Link – The Blanket Exercise

“What a heart breaking reflection on the floor in front of us.  What once was a beautiful, colourful tapestry, has been mostly stripped away and what remains is broken apart and trampled on sections”, said one person in our concluding reflection time.

We had the opportunity to hear from some fellow YFC Staff members on their own life experiences.  We have a staff member who was a descendant of a residential school survivor and another who was removed from his family because of the “Sixties Scoop”.  One particular truth that many of us need to be more aware of is that due to the role the church played in this tragedy, the name of Jesus does not represent love and hope for many Indigenous people, actually the opposite.

It was an incredible afternoon that opened our eyes, burdened our hearts, and gave us perspective on how to build stronger and better relationships with the indigenous youth we care for. Larry Wilson, an Indigenous YFC Winnipeg Board Member who led us through the exercise, challenged us to let the new feelings of increased compassion and sorrow, become a part of who we are, to be living examples of Christ-like love filled with the grace of God.  What we say and do will flow out of who we are, so we need to be led daily by Jesus and allow Him to shape us.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.