On Tuesday August 6th members of the Whyte Avenue Rotary Club attended a presentation of The KAIROS Blanket Exercise at the Orange Hub Community Centre. This workshop was sponsored by Reach Edmonton, an organization that advocates for community safety through improved engagement of all community residents.
The Blanket Exercise was created in 1997 in collaboration with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers and educators. It was developed to illustrate Canada’s history vis-a-vis it’s indigenous populations and the European colonizers who would lay claim to the land and it’s resources. Participants stand on blankets that have been arranged on the floor to represent the land while reading a scripted timeline of policies and actions intended to eradicate, assimilate or isolate Canada’s original citizens.
Exercise facilitator Michelle Nieviadomy, Assistant Director of the Edmonton Native Healing Centre, related the compelling story of her own gradual acceptance and eventual embrace of her First Nations heritage. The workshop’s subject matter and the manner in which Michelle delivers it explains why she is in demand to present about 150 blanket exercises a year.
For more information on REACH Edmonton and the KAIROS Blanket Exercise, or to book a free Blanket Exercise workshop for your workplace or community group go to https://reachedmonton.ca/detail/posts/kairos-blanket-exercise
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