The Blanket Exercise A teaching tool by KAIROS to raise awareness and understanding of the nation to nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Two Versions Included: Grades 4-8 and Grades 9-12/Adult In this booklet you will find two different versions of the Welcome to the script: one for grades 4-8 and one for grades 9-12/adults. Hopefully doing the Blanket Exercise will inspire participants Blanket Exercise to take action on the injustices facing Indigenous peoples. At the end of the booklet you will find a list of suggested follow-up activities. The KAIROS Blanket Exercise is an enormously popular and successful teaching tool that uses participatory You are invited to explore and use this exercise in your popular education methodology to raise awareness of the community, school, group, or place of worship. Please do nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non- not hesitate to contact us with questions on any stage of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and to teach a history the process, or with advice on how we can make the Blanket of Canada that most people do not learn. Exercise even better!

Since its creation in 1997, it has been done hundreds of times with thousands of people of all ages and from all About KAIROS: KAIROS unites eleven national Canadian churches and backgrounds, by a wide variety of groups, both Indigenous religious organizations in faithful work for human rights and non-Indigenous, as a way to open, or continue, the and ecological justice through research, education, conversation about decolonization. partnership, and advocacy. In 1996, RCAP concluded that Designed to deepen understanding of the denial of public education is key to realizing a renewed relationship Indigenous peoples’ nationhood, the Blanket Exercise between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples - one explores the major themes and recommendations of the based on sharing, respect and the mutual recognition of Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), examines rights and responsibilities. Through creative and innovative how federal policies and programs impact the lives public education initiatives and campaigns such as the of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and identifies what Blanket Exercise, KAIROS works towards a just, peaceful Indigenous peoples and their allies are doing to bring and respectful relationship between Indigenous and non- about positive change. Indigenous peoples that recognizes Indigenous peoples’ rights, including the right to self-determination. As the name suggests, the Blanket Exercise begins with blankets arranged on the floor to represent Canada before the arrival of Europeans. The participants, who represent Indigenous peoples, begin by moving around on the blankets. While a narrator reads from a script, other participants – representing the Europeans or newcomers - join and begin to interact with those on the blankets. As the script traces the history of the relationship between Europeans and Indigenous nations in Canada, the participants respond to various cues and interact by reading prepared scrolls. At the end of the exercise only a few people remain on blankets which have been folded into small bundles and cover only a fraction of their original area.

2 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Goal: of time, give them a copy of the script, and ask if they To engage participants in the historic relationship between would agree to play the role of the European(s) (or choose Europeans and the Indigenous nations, and in the a confident member of your group on the spot). Copy and colonization of the land we now call Canada. roll the scrolls, identifying them on the outside by number or letter and type. For the grades 4-8 script, the scrolls for What you need: photocopying are found on page 15 and for the Grades • 10 (or more) blankets 9-12/adult script, the scrolls are on page 43. Also, gather the necessary number of coloured cards. • Scrolls - At the end of each of the two versions of the script you will find the corresponding “scrolls”. Print these pages, The ideal number of participants for this exercise is about roll them as scrolls, and indicate on the outside their type 25, but it can be easily and successfully adapted for smaller and number. If possible, use coloured paper to distinguish groups by having participants read more than one scroll. the scrolls from each other to make them easier to identify The key is to ensure that there are some participants left on during the exercise. Note that the scrolls with letters are the blankets at the end of the exercise. Groups larger than used by the European character(s), while ones with 25 can also be easily accommodated by using the “fish-bowl” numbers are used by Participants. approach, which means having have some participants play • Index cards: white, yellow and blue (if you don’t have active roles on the blankets while others observe in a circle coloured cards you can always write the colour on the around the group and help to read the scrolls. cards, or on pieces of paper). You will need enough white and yellow cards for just over half of the participants, and As the facilitator, please keep in mind that some groups find two blue cards. Mark one of the yellow cards with an “X”. the exercise emotional and will react in different ways. Some may laugh inappropriately or get angry. It is important to • A narrator and at least one person to act as the European. remember this during the debrief session. You may want to Both should be comfortable reading aloud. consider asking the group why certain reactions happened • 3 maps from the Report of the Royal Commission on at certain points. This type of discussion can help sensitize Aboriginal Peoples, which you will find in the centre of the the participants and may avoid lingering questions about booklet – “Turtle Island”, “Treaties” and “Aboriginal Lands what kind of behaviour or reaction is appropriate. Today”. (You may consider scanning these and presenting them on a projector). Some concepts and terminology to review before getting started: Time required: What is a treaty? Doing the Blanket Exercise takes one hour; it’s always better Treaties are internationally binding agreements between not to rush it. Reflecting together afterwards is important, sovereign nations. Hundreds of treaties of peace and so take as much time as possible. The larger the group, the friendship were concluded between the European settlers more time you will need. and First Nations during the period prior to confederation. These treaties promoted peaceful coexistence and the Preparation: sharing of resources. After Confederation, the European Depending on the age of the participants, choose the settlers pursued treaty making as a tool to acquire vast appropriate version of the Blanket Exercise script and read tracts of land, and the numbered treaties 1 through 11 over it carefully. Ideally, speak to one or two people ahead were concluded between First Nations and the Crown.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 3 For Indigenous peoples, treaties outline the rights and Terminology responsibilities of all parties to the agreement. In the Indigenous peoples is a term for which there is no one traditions of Indigenous treaty making, these are oral definition because it is up to each Indigenous person to agreements. In addition, they are “vital, living instruments define themselves, something that for far too long has been of relationship” (RCAP) that involve all Canadians. done by others. Cree lawyer Sharon Venne suggests that being Indigenous means being “descendants of the people “To us the answer is not about incremental change, it is not occupying a territory when the colonizers arrived.” about just concrete action, it is also repairing the relationship. And the way to repair the relationship between us and Canada Indigenous is a word that has come into widespread use is to have this country acknowledge that its richness and its through the recognition that those people who are the original wealth come from their one‐sided interpretation of the treaties. inhabitants of a place, and who have been marginalized by There has to be henceforth a double understanding of what ethnic groups who arrived later, have much in common with those treaties represent.” (Ovide Mecredi, Crown-First Nations other peoples worldwide with the same experience. Gathering 2012) Not only does the word speak to global solidarity amongst What does it mean to be a sovereign nation? these peoples, but it has important legal significance as well. A sovereign nation enjoys the right to self-determination and Indigenous peoples’ rights have been recognized at the has a governance structure and territory that is recognized international level in various ways but most importantly in by other nations. While European nations focus on the the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous protection of individual rights, Indigenous nations centre on Peoples, which was adopted by the United Nations General collective rights such as land, language, spiritual traditions, Assembly in 2007 and endorsed by Canada in November 2010. and self-governance, to name a few. Indigenous individuals When we speak of peoples, as opposed to people, it is a rely on strong nations for their well-being because they recognition of collective rights: that each Indigenous people protect and nurture the collective rights through which an is a distinct entity with its own cultural and political rights. individual finds cultural meaning and identity. The Indigenous struggle for sovereignty is a struggle for nationhood and Aboriginal peoples refers to the original peoples of North many believe that the recognition of Indigenous nationhood America who belong to historic, cultural and political will enhance, not diminish, Canadian sovereignty. The treaties entities. Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes three are central to sovereignty and nationhood as they address groups of Aboriginal peoples: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. how to coexist as distinct peoples. There are a number of synonyms for Aboriginal peoples, including Indigenous peoples, First Peoples, and original What is the difference between equity and equality? peoples. None of these terms should be used to describe Equality means each person gets the same treatment or only one or two of the groups. the same amount of something. It involves systematically dividing something into equal parts. Equity, on the other Because Aboriginal peoples is the term used in Canada’s hand, recognizes that not everyone has the same needs. constitution, it has specific importance within a Canadian It is about justice and a fair process that leads to an equal legal context. outcome. Equity takes into account the injustices of the past and how they have placed some in positions of privilege First Nations is not a legal term but replaces “Indian” in while others face significant barriers to achieving well-being. common usage. There are many First Nations in Canada:

4 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Innu, Cree, Salteaux, Ojibwe, Haida, Dene, Mohawk, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Blood, Shuswap, etc., each with its own history, culture, and traditions.

Inuit are the Indigenous Circumpolar people of Canada and other northern countries. They were formerly called Eskimo, which the Inuit consider an insult. In Canada, the Inuit live in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, northern Quebec, Labrador and, in recent years, southern Canadian cities as well.

Métis are the mixed-blood descendants of French and Scottish fur traders and other early settlers, and Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux and Assiniboine women. They have their own culture and history. As is the case with many Aboriginal languages, the Métis language, Michif, is endangered. Métis society and culture were established before European settlement was entrenched.

Assimilation is the process of absorbing one cultural group into another. This can be pursued through harsh and extreme state policies such as removing children from their families and placing them in the homes or institutions of another culture. Forcing a people to assimilate through legislation is cultural genocide—the intent is to eradicate a culture.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 5 Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 3- “One The Blanket of my favourite things about my culture is how we’re taught that everything on the Earth is to be respected. It’s Exercise for an important part of the culture and covers everything. That includes respecting yourself. Respecting yourself is Grades 4-8 one of the most important things my culture has taught me. Also, the land, water, plants, air and animals are all very important to our culture and need to be respected. Beginning… Without any of it, what would we be?”—Kateri, from a Mohawk community in Quebec If this is your first session together as a group, ensure you spend some time getting to know one another. Set some group norms that will guide how you act towards one another. Opening Discussion Questions (optional): Consider showing the Public Service Alliance of Canada video • What does the term Indigenous mean? Aboriginal? “Justice for Aboriginal Peoples - It’s time” http://www.youtube. First Nation? Inuit? Métis? com/watch?v=r5DrXZUIinU. Let the group know that the Blanket Exercise explores the issues raised in the video. • Has anyone heard the word assimilation before? Assimilation means being made to be like everyone else. Hearing Indigenous Voices Is it a good or bad thing? What if you were forced to “be like everyone else”? Invite someone in the group to read aloud each of the following three quotations from young Indigenous people. • What is a treaty? You will find the scrolls formatted for photocopying starting on page 15. • Do you think Canada does a good job respecting other peoples’ cultures? Why or why not? Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 1- “I know what the government did in the past; they said where • What does it mean to be a nation? we had to live. I know that we’re not treated equally now, N.B. These terms and concepts are explained for facilitators on because I can feel it. We’re all Canadians and we should all pages 3-4. be treated equally.”—Cassie, from a Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia Sum up the conversation by saying Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 2- “You have something such as: to remember that the Canadian government has done a lot Sometimes we hear about European explorers “discovering” to Aboriginal people that was meant to make us become what we now call North America. But it was really more like Europeans. For example, in residential schools, my like this: Europeans arrived and found many nations living grandmother told me you couldn’t speak our language or here—different nations, each with its own language, culture you’d get beaten; you couldn’t see your parents – things like and form of government. In some cases women were the that. We didn’t have voting rights for a long time. We also ones who held the most powerful roles in the communities. lost a lot of our culture.”—Heather, from a Cree community in We call these Indigenous nations because they were the Saskatchewan original people living on this land. Europeans realized that

6 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 if they wanted to live on this land they needed to make Share that for some this exercise may bring up difficult agreements with these nations, agreements or “treaties”. feelings. Assure participants that the last step will be an We are going to learn about how those first agreements opportunity for people to share their feelings in a between nations, agreements of peace and friendship, did respectful way. not last. Or maybe it is clearer to say that Europeans did not Lay the blankets on the floor up against each other so as keep up their side of the agreements. We want to have a to create a blanketed area large enough to accommodate good relationship in Canada between the descendents of all the participants. Fold one blanket and set it aside. the original people (the great, great, great... grandchildren Invite everyone to remove their shoes and to stand on the of those who first lived here) and the people who have come blankets. Ask them to move around on the blankets – to use as newcomers, whether that was a long time ago or recently. and occupy the land - as if they were living on it. Ask your To do that we need to remember that the Indigenous volunteer(s) / European(s) to stand with you. peoples who lived here first were nations. We need to share and respect each other and remember that each of us has a role to play in Canada. This is not always easy to do, especially when there have been so many problems with the relationship along the way.

Learning through Experiencing: The Blanket Exercise Tell participants they are about to participate in an interactive exercise designed to deepen their understanding of what happened when Europeans first came to Canada. Ask participants to notice how First Nations, Inuit and later Métis peoples lost their land. Invite participants to try and imagine what that feels like, and what it means in all parts of their life. Ask participants to note what Indigenous peoples did to preserve their languages and their cultures and to prevent being forced to be like everyone else.

Use the three maps from the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples that are included in this booklet – “Turtle Island”, “Treaties” and “Aboriginal Lands Today” – to explain that we will learn how we went from a time when Indigenous peoples used all the land we call Canada (what some Indigenous peoples refer to as “Turtle Island”) to a time when land reserved for Indigenous peoples is only a very tiny part of the land of Canada. Note: reserves below the 60th parallel are only 1/10 of 1% of Canada’s land mass.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 7 Narrator: And so began the process of the European Script “discovery” of Turtle Island that started in the east and moved across the continent. Narrator: These blankets represent the northern part of Turtle Island, or what we now know as North America, The European(s) step(s) on the blankets and begins shaking before the arrival of Europeans. You represent the hands and milling around. While shaking hands, he/she/they Indigenous peoples, the original peoples. give(s) out white index cards to about half the participants, and yellow cards to about one-third of the remaining participants. Long before the arrival of Europeans, Turtle Island was your One of the yellow cards should have an “X” on it. Give blue home, and home to millions of people like you living in cards to two participants. (Note: If the group is large enough, hundreds of nations. You fished and hunted and farmed. ensure that at least 10 participants do not receive cards.) Each community had its own language, culture, traditions, laws and governments. These communities worked Narrator: When the Europeans first arrived on Turtle Island together and cooperated with one another. Before the there were many more Indigenous people than Europeans. newcomers arrived, you, the original peoples, ended fights by making treaties. The newcomers depended on you for their survival, and you helped them to understand how you did things - how Optional: Consider having students form different groups and you taught your children, how you took care of people act out the tasks they would be performing on a daily basis. who were sick, how you lived off the land, and how your Narrator: The land is very important to you. All of your governments worked. needs – food, clothing, shelter, culture, your spirituality – are In the beginning there was lots of cooperation and support taken care of by the land - by the blankets. In return, you between you and the settlers. The settlers and their leaders take very seriously your responsibility to take care of the land. recognized you, the First Peoples, as having your own Optional question: In what ways do you think that governments, laws and territories. They recognized you as Indigenous peoples’ needs were met by the land? independent nations.

Introduce the volunteer(s) representing the European settlers. They made agreements or treaties with you. These treaties explained how you were going to share the land Narrator: Things were happening in Europe at the end of and the water, the animals, and the plants. Two of the the 15th century that would mean a huge change for you. oldest agreements – the Covenant Chain and the Two In 1493, the King and Queen of Spain asked Pope Alexander Row Wampum – were between the Europeans and the to make a statement that would help Spain’s explorers when Haudenosaunee, who live in the east in what we now call they arrived in new lands. The statement was called the Quebec, Ontario and the state of New York. “Doctrine of Discovery” and this is what it said: These treaties were very important because they were European - Scroll A (unrolls and reads in a loud voice): agreements between you and the kings and queens of According to the Doctrine of Discovery nations that are not countries in Europe. They made these agreements with Christian cannot own land. The Indigenous peoples living on you because you were here first, the land belonged to you, this land will be put under the protection and supervision of and you had your own governments. The treaties formally the Christian nations that “discover” their lands. recognized your power and independence as nations.

8 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 The Europeans understood they could not force their laws After a while, you didn’t get along very well with the or way of life, the Indigenous peoples. They understood that Europeans. When the War of 1812 ended, the Europeans no you had rights. longer needed you to help them with the fighting.

European - Scroll B (unrolls and reads in a loud voice): As the fur trade dried up, the European newcomers turned In the Royal Proclamation of 1763, King George said the more and more to farming and started looking for more land. Indigenous nations own their lands, and that the only legal Before too long, there were more Europeans than way newcomers could gain control of those lands was by Indigenous peoples. One reason was the diseases the making treaties between the two nations. The year 2013 Europeans brought with them, diseases such as small pox, marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation. measles and TB. You, the Indigenous peoples, suffered badly Narrator: Later on, the Government of Canada was formed, from these diseases because you had never had them in and the Royal Proclamation became part of Canadian law. your communities before. Millions of you died. In fact, there are some people who believe that fully half the Indigenous For you, the Indigenous peoples, the treaties were very people alive at the time died from these diseases. In some special and sacred agreements. They were statements of communities, nine out of ten people died. peace, friendship, and sharing, and they were based on The Narrator asks those participants with white index cards respect and honesty. to step off the blanket as they represent those who died of Treaties explained how the land and waters would be the various diseases. shared, and tried to make sure there would be peace Please be silent for a moment to remember those who died between you, the original peoples, and the newcomers. from the diseases.

Sharing was very important to you. The hunters shared their One European walks to a person, hands them the folded food with everyone. And the families helped one another blanket and reads: raise the children. European - Scroll C: Blankets infected with the deadly small In the treaties, you tried to help the Europeans understand pox virus were given or traded to the Indigenous people by what you meant by sharing. military leaders such as Lord Jeffrey Amherst. You represent the many Indigenous people who died from small pox after At this point, the European(s) begin(s) to slowly fold the having come into contact with such blankets. Please step off blankets, making the blanket space smaller and smaller. the blanket.

The participants are reminded they must NOT step off the The European then walks to one person in the “east” and reads: blankets. The objective is to stay on the blankets, even as they get smaller. European - Scroll D: You represent the Beothuk, the original people of what is now called Newfoundland. Your people Narrator: But the Europeans didn’t see it that way. They are now extinct. When the Europeans arrived you lost had a different view of the treaties. For them, land was important food sources. Your people died from diseases you something that could be bought and sold, and treaties were had never seen before. Many of your people died in violent a way of getting you, the Indigenous peoples to give up fights with trappers and settlers. Some of your people were your land. hunted down and killed. Please step off the blankets.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 9 The European(s) and the Narrator walk to the “south” and Optional Question: Why would moving to a different place choose two people who are standing close together. be so difficult for people who live off the land?

Narrator: You represent the First Nations that were divided Narrator: As more Europeans arrived, they needed more when the border between the United States and British land. Many of the Europeans thought they were better than Canada was created. This border divides communities and cuts other people, including you. Soon, they didn’t think of you you off from each other. Please move to separate blankets. as friends and partners, but as a “problem” to be solved.

The European(s) guide(s) each person to a separate blanket, The Europeans started ignoring or changing their laws to and then walk(s) with the Narrator to the “west” where they make it easier for them to take your land. Some land was choose one person. taken in war. Some land was taken after you died.

Narrator: Construction of the railway opened up the As Indigenous peoples, you lost more than just your land. Because the land is so important to you, when it was taken prairies to settlers. Land was needed for farming and away some of you also lost your way of living, your culture the Government of Canada bought a huge piece of land and, in some cases, your reason to live. from the Hudson’s Bay Company. This was very hard for some of you who were already living there such as the The European(s) and the Narrator present nine participants Métis and the Cree. You, the Métis, fought for your land – either on or off the blankets - with numbered scrolls. The and were sometimes joined by the Cree. You won some Narrator asks each participant to unroll the scroll and read of these battles, but in the end you were defeated by the it aloud. With smaller groups, each participant can read government’s soldiers. Please step off the blanket as you more than one scroll. represent those Métis or Cree leaders who died in battle, Participant - Scroll 1: Terra Nullius (TER-ah Noo-lee-us)– were put in jail, or were executed. The idea of Terra Nullius, which in Latin means “empty land” – The European(s) and the Narrator walk to the “north”. gave the newcomers the right to take over any “empty” land found by explorers. Narrator: In the High Arctic, Inuit communities were moved to isolated, unfamiliar, and barren lands, often with very Narrator: These were usually the lands used by Indigenous bad results. peoples for hunting and trapping. In other words, if the newcomers thought the land was “empty” they would take European - Scroll E: You represent those First Peoples – the it. But, because the land wasn’t “empty” they changed the Inuit, and the Innu at Davis Inlet, and many other Indigenous idea to include lands not being used by “civilized” peoples, communities – who suffered and sometimes died because or lands not being put to “civilized” use. you were forced to move to an unfamiliar place. Please move one of the blankets away from the others, fold it small and It was the Europeans who decided what it meant to be sit down on it. “civilized”, and they decided that because you and your people were not using the land in a “civilized way”, they could The European(s) take(s) a blanket, folds it small and directs take it and there was nothing you could do to stop them. the group to this blanket. Participant - Scroll 2: The BNA (British North America) Act Narrator: Those with blue cards, step off the blankets. You – The BNA Act, also known as the Constitution Act, 1867, put represent those who died of hunger after being forced off “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians” under the control your original land and away from your hunting grounds. of the federal government.

10 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Narrator: When this happened, it meant you lost your Narrator: The Indian Act also tried to stop Indigenous rights, and control over your lands. In other words, the law peoples from fighting to keep their land. For example, under gave control of your lands to the Government of Canada, the Indian Act, it was against the law to raise money to fight which was made up of people from Europe. You, the for land rights in the courts until the 1950s. Indigenous people, were not involved in the creation of this The Inuit were included under the Indian Act in 1939, but the law that would have such a big impact on your lives. Métis never were. More and more the plan was to try and make you like the Participant - Scroll 4: Enfranchisement (en-fran-CHISE-ment) – Europeans. Under this federal government policy, all First Nations Participant - Scroll 3: Indian Act – In 1876 all the laws people who became doctors, teachers, or who joined other dealing with Indigenous peoples were gathered together professions, would lose their legal Indian status. This was and put into the Indian Act. called being granted “enfranchisement”.

European - Scroll F, Part I (in a loud voice): Now hear Narrator: In other words, the government would treat this! According to the Indian Act of 1876 and the British Indigenous people entering professions as Canadians. This North America Act of 1867, you and all of your territories means the government no longer legally recognized you as are now under the direct control of the Canadian federal Indigenous people. government. You will now be placed on reserves. Please fold Since this included lawyers, it prevented you from using your blankets until they are just large enough to stand on. the courts to protect your land rights during the first half Narrator: The Indian Act completely changed your lives as of the 1900s. Indigenous peoples. As long as your cultures were strong, Participant - Scroll 5: Assimilation (ah-sim-ill-EH-shun)– it was difficult for the government to take your land and The government thought the “Indian problem” would solve so the government used the Indian Act to attack who you itself as more and more Indigenous people died from diseases were as peoples. Hunting and fishing was restricted. Your and others became part of the larger Canadian society. As spiritual ceremonies - including the potlatch, pow-wow and one government employee said, the government’s goal was sundance - were outlawed. You went from being strong, “to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that independent First Nations, with your own governments, has not been absorbed into the body politic and that there is to isolated and poor ‘bands’ that depended on the no Indian problem and no Indian Department.” [Indian Affairs government for almost everything. You were treated deputy superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott] like children and became the responsibility of the federal government. Through the Indian Act, the federal Narrator: The idea was that Indigenous people had to government has denied you your basic rights, things that become more like the Europeans. You had to give up your most Canadians take for granted, such as healthy schools, rights and become like other Canadians. You had to farm like proper housing and clean running water. them, go to the same schools, and pray in the same churches.

European - Scroll F, Part II: You may not leave your reserve Participant - Scroll 6: Residential Schools – From 1820 until without a permit. You may not vote. You may not get the 1970s, the federal government took First Nations, Inuit and together to talk about your rights. You may not practice your Métis children from their homes and communities and put spirituality or your traditional forms of government. If you them in boarding schools that were run by churches. These do any of these things, you may be put in jail. schools were often very far from your homes. In most cases you

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 11 were not allowed to speak your own language. Most of you Narrator: You were outraged by this attempt to take stayed at the school for 8-10 months, while others stayed all away even more of your rights and organized to defeat it. year. The last Indian residential school closed in 1996. Please unfold one corner of your blankets to represent this strong act of resistance against losing your rights, and give All people with yellow cards must now move to a separate, yourselves a round of applause. empty blanket. You represent those who were taken out of your communities and placed in residential schools far from The European(s) can step in and stop the participants from your homes. unfolding more than a small corner of their blankets.

Narrator: While some students say they had positive Participant - Scroll 8: Broken promises – Over the years, experiences at the schools, many of you say that you more than 70 per cent of the land set aside for you in the suffered from very bad conditions and from different kinds treaties has been lost or stolen by the government. Rarely of abuse. Many of you lost family connections and didn’t has the government tried to replace this land, or tried to learn your language, culture and traditions. Because you give you something in return for its use. grew up in the schools and rarely went home, many of you European - Scroll G: Meanwhile, the treaties are ignored never learned how to be good parents. Some students died by non-Indigenous people and big companies are allowed at the schools. Many of you never returned home, or were to make lots and lots of money from Indigenous lands and treated badly if you did. natural resources, but you the Indigenous peoples get little but the pollution, and future generations are left to clean up The Narrator asks the person with the yellow index card the mess. marked with an “X” to please step off the blanket. That person represents those students who died as a result of Narrator: Although you are living on very rich land, you their experience at residential schools. The narrator asks continue to live in poverty. As Douglas, a Lubicon Cree another person with a yellow index card to return to their student said, “there is a light on the side of the pump house home community. The community members should all turn that goes red. That tells us that there’s no water and that’s their backs on the returning person to represent the isolation when we can’t go to school on some days.” In fact, First people often faced when returning to a community they had Nations schools receive $2000-$3000 less per student than been taken from. provincially run schools.

Narrator: And this is not a story from the past. You are still And yet, for you the Indigenous peoples, treaties continue to treated differently. Your schools don’t get as much money. be important, special agreements that explain how the land Indigenous children are still much more likely to be taken can be shared equally and peacefully. Unfortunately, this from their homes and placed in foster care. view of treaties is not shared by the government and many non-Indigenous people, who see treaties as documents that Please be silent for another moment to honour those who give indigenous peoples control of the land. died or were shunned because of residential schools. Participant - Scroll 9: U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Participant - Scroll 7: The 1969 White Paper – This Indigenous Peoples - The Declaration is a set of international proposed federal law again tried to solve the “Indian standards on the rights of Indigenous peoples. It took problem” by getting you, the Indigenous peoples, to give up over 20 years to write and is one of the most debated and your rights and become like other Canadians. thought-out human rights documents in U.N. history. It is

12 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 unique because for the first time in U.N. history, those who Most Indigenous groups and their allies see Canada’s are affected by the Declaration, you the Indigenous peoples, endorsement of the Declaration as an important first step were an important part of its development. towards a new relationship that protects their rights.

The Narrator asks all the remaining participants to unfold The Government of Canada and the United Nations have one small part of their blankets. Again, if too much is being said again and again that your situation - the situation unfolded the European(s) can intervene. facing First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada - is Canada’s most important human rights issue. According to Narrator: Please give yourselves a round of applause. the U.N., Canada is often ranked one of the ten best places in the world to live. However, using the same measuring stick, The Narrator asks one person to read the following quote: your living conditions as Indigenous peoples in Canada are Participant – Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 4: “It more like those of much poorer countries. is about our relationships with each other, our lands, The Narrator asks one person to read the following quote: natural resources, our laws, our rights, our languages, our spirituality, our ways of life.”­—Phil Fontaine, Former National Participant – Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 5: “As an Chief of the Assembly of First Nations individual I am scared for my own education and how my life that’s ahead of me is going to be like, if I don’t qualify to Narrator: In 2007 the majority of countries in the United get into college. Life for us will gradually get worse, as yours Nations voted to adopt the United Nations Declaration on gets easier, that’s not fair for us. We deserve better, much, the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada much better.”—Vicky, First Nations student voted against the Declaration, along with the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The Government of Canada Ask people to look around. At this point, there should be said that as an international human rights instrument for a few people standing on very small areas of blankets. Ask Indigenous peoples, the Declaration could threaten the them to remember what it looked like when they started the rights of non-Indigenous peoples. exercise and what it looks like now.

Optional: Explain how this is the same as saying that other international human rights instruments, such as the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, threaten the rights of adults. Explain that this is not true, and that specific groups in society that are sometimes persecuted or vulnerable, need special attention to make sure their rights are not violated.

Narrator: In 2008, over 100 experts said Canada’s reasons for opposing the Declaration don’t make sense. The Government of Canada finally endorsed the Declaration on November 12, 2010, but with qualifications. The Government said it would support the Declaration as long as it is consistent with Canada’s laws and policies, including the Indian Act.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 13 Debrief and Follow-up Ask participants to sit in a circle to talk about their experiences. Having the speaker hold a feather, stone or another object may Additional Activities help to ensure that only one person is speaking at a time. You A. Have participants make a collage or picture that may wish to allow this to happen organically and not structure describes how they felt about the Blanket Exercise. it too much. However, you may prefer to use the following questions to get the conversation started. Give them the opportunity to share it with others.

• What have you learned today? B. Equity Exercise: (20 minutes) We often look for “fairness” or “equality” when we • What was the most emotional moment for you? speak out on issues of human rights and ecological • Was there something you didn’t understand? justice. This can be particularly true when referring to resources. So what really is equity? Why equity • Consider having students explore some of the current and not equality, particularly when speaking about inequities that are a reality for young Indigenous people Indigenous rights? today. See case studies on page 54. Have participants sit in a circle. Each participant The Blanket Exercise is designed to inspire action. For some is asked to remove their right shoe and hand it to ideas, please refer to the selection of suggested resources the person on their right. Then ask each participant on page 55. to put on the shoe they were given. As they are trying to make it “fit” ask participants: “what’s the problem?” Weren’t they all given a shoe to replace the one they gave away? Wasn’t each person given the same item, a shoe? Explain how equity, or filling ones needs, is not necessarily about giving each person the exact same thing. Equity is about people getting the “shoe that fits”. Otherwise, the shoe is of little or no use.

As a group, discuss the following question: Why is it important to understand equity when working towards reconciliation and right relations with Indigenous peoples?

This exercise was adapted from: http://laradavid. blogspot.com/2008/07/difference-between- equityand-equality.html

14 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Scrolls for Photocopying: Grades 4-8 Script  Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 1 “I know what the government did in the past; they said where we had to live. I know that we’re not treated equally now, because I can feel it. We’re all Canadians and we should all be treated equally.”—Cassie, from a Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia  Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 2 “You have to remember that the Canadian government has done a lot to Aboriginal people that was meant to make us become like Europeans. For example, in residential schools, my grandmother told me you couldn’t speak our language or you’d get beaten; you couldn’t see your parents – things like that. We didn’t have voting rights for a long time. We also lost a lot of our culture.”— Heather, from a Cree community in Saskatchewan

Participant: Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 3  “One of my favourite things about my culture is how we’re taught that everything on the Earth is to be respected. It’s an important part of the culture and covers everything. That includes respecting yourself. Respecting yourself is one of the most important things my culture has taught me. Also, the land, water, plants, air and animals are all very important to our culture and need to be respected. Without any of it, what would we be?”—Kateri, from a Mohawk community in Quebec

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 15  European - Scroll A (unrolls and reads in a loud voice): According to the Doctrine of Discovery nations that are not Christian cannot own land. The Indigenous peoples living on this land will be put under the protection and supervision of the Christian nations that “discover” their lands.  European - Scroll B (unrolls and reads in a loud voice): In the Royal Proclamation of 1763, King George said the Indigenous nations own their lands, and that the only legal way newcomers could gain control of those lands was by making treaties between the two nations. The year 2013 marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation. 

European - Scroll C: Blankets infested with the small pox virus were given or traded to the Indigenous people by military leaders such as Lord Jeffrey Amherst. You represent the many Indigenous people who died from small pox after having come into contact with such blankets. Please step off the blanket.

16 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 European - Scroll D:  You represent the Beothuk, the original people of what is now called Newfoundland. Your people are now extinct. When the Europeans arrived you lost important food sources. Your people died from diseases you had never seen before. Many of your people died in violent fights with trappers and settlers. Some of your people were hunted down and killed. Please step off the blankets.  European - Scroll E: You represent those First Peoples – the Inuit, and the Innu at Davis Inlet, and many other Indigenous communities – who suffered and sometimes died because you were forced to move to an unfamiliar place. Please move one of the blankets away from the others, fold it small and sit down on it.  Participant - Scroll 1: Terra Nullius (TER-ah Noo-lee-us) The idea of Terra Nullius, which in Latin means “empty land” – gave the newcomers the right to take over any “empty” land found by explorers.  Participant - Scroll 2: The BNA (British North America) Act The BNA Act, also known as the Constitution Act, 1867, put “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians” under the control of the federal government.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 17  Participant - Scroll 3: Indian Act In 1876 all the laws dealing with Indigenous peoples were gathered together and put into the Indian Act.  European - Scroll F, Part I (in a loud voice): Now hear this! According to the Indian Act of 1876 and the British North America Act of 1867, you and all of your territories are now under the direct control of the Canadian federal government. You will now be placed on reserves. Please fold your blankets until they are just large enough to stand on.  European - Scroll F, Part II: You may not leave your reserve without a permit. You may not vote. You may not get together to talk about your rights. You may not practice your spirituality or your traditional forms of government. If you do any of these things, you may be put in jail.

18 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012  Participant - Scroll 4: Enfranchisement (en-fran-CHISE-ment) Under this federal government policy, all First Nations people who became doctors, teachers, or who joined other professions, would lose their legal Indian status. This was called being granted “enfranchisement”.

Participant - Scroll 5: Assimilation (ah-sim-ill-EH-shun)  The government thought the “Indian problem” would solve itself as more and more Indigenous people died from diseases and others became part of the larger Canadian society. As one government employee said, the government’s goal was “to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and that there is no Indian problem and no Indian Department.” [Indian Affairs deputy superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott]

Participant - Scroll 6: Residential Schools  From 1820 until the 1970s, the federal government took First Nations, Inuit and Métis children from their homes and communities and put them in boarding schools that were run by churches. These schools were often very far from your homes. In most cases you were not allowed to speak your own language. Most of you stayed at the school for 8-10 months, while others stayed all year. The last Indian residential school closed in 1996.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 19  Participant - Scroll 7: The 1969 White Paper This proposed federal law again tried to solve the “Indian problem” by getting you, the Indigenous peoples, to give up your rights and become like other Canadians. 

Participant - Scroll 8: Broken promises Over the years, more than 70 per cent of the land set aside for you in the treaties has been lost or stolen by the government. Rarely has the government tried to replace this land, or tried to give you something in return for its use.  European - Scroll G: Meanwhile, the treaties are ignored by non-Indigenous people and big companies are allowed to make lots and lots of money from Indigenous lands and natural resources, while you the Indigenous peoples get little but the pollution, and future generations are left to clean up the mess.

20 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012  Participant - Scroll 9: U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The Declaration is a set of international standards on the rights of Indigenous peoples. It took over 20 years to write and is one of the most debated and thought-out human rights document in U.N. history. It is unique because for the first time in U.N. history, those who are affected by the Declaration, you the Indigenous peoples, were an important part of its development.  Participant – Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 4: “It is about our relationships with each other, our lands, natural resources, our laws, our rights, our languages, our spirituality, our ways of life.”—Phil Fontaine, Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations  Participant – Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 5: “As an individual I am scared for my own education and what how my life that’s ahead of me is going to be like, if I don’t qualify to get into college. Life for us will gradually get worse, as yours gets easier, that’s not fair for us. We deserve better, much, much better.” —Vicky, First Nations student

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 21 Peoples of Indigenous America possessed all the elements The Blanket of nationhood that were well-established by European settlers: territory, governing structures, legal systems and a Exercise for historical continuity with our territories. Nothing since the arrival of Columbus has occurred to merit any reduction in Grades 9-12/ the international legal status of Indigenous Peoples. The recognition of Indigenous Nations and our rights possess no Adults threat to non-Indigenous Peoples.”—Sharon Venne, Cree Participant - Hearings Indigenous Voices Scroll 3: “First Beginning… Nations are nations. First Nations (treaty people) signed over If this is your first session together as a group, ensure you 300 treaties with the Europeans during the 1700s and 1800s. spend some time getting to know one another. Set some The treaties agreed to share the lands and resources with group norms that will guide how you act towards one the immigrants. … Under existing legislation, treaty people another. Consider showing the Public Service Alliance of are “sovereign” nations. … The Indians surrendered over 9.9 Canada video “Justice for Aboriginal Peoples - It’s time” http:// million square kilometres of their land to the immigrants. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5DrXZUIinU. Let the group Today, the sons of the immigrants have the largest treaty know that you will be exploring the issues raised in the video. rights in Canada. The Indians have become the poorest peoples in Canada.”—Chief Pascall Bighetty, Pukatawagan Hearing Indigenous Voices First Nation The Blanket Exercise is an opportunity to learn our shared Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 4: “Our history, and to form a common memory. Written following cultures, our religions, our governments and our ways of the release of the Report of the Royal Commission on life are all in danger. We are not simply individuals with Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) in 1996, and with the participation individual’s rights; on the contrary, we exist as distinct of many Indigenous people, it is an opportunity to peoples, distinct communities, real functioning nations. experience our shared history from a different, perhaps We hold our lands in common; we hold our cultures and unfamiliar perspective. religions as nations and as communities and groups.”— Invite someone in the group to read aloud each of the Chief Jake Swamp, Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation, following four quotations. You’ll find the scrolls formatted Haudenosaunee. for photocopying starting on page 43. Sum up the conversation by saying Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 1: “Where something such as: common memory is lacking, where people do not share The Europeans who “discovered” what we now know as in the same past, there can be no real community. Where North America encountered independent, distinct, self- community is to be formed, common memory must be governing and self-sufficient societies. These societies were created.”—Georges Erasmus, Dene Nation, co-chair of the nations; they had a wide variety of languages and cultures, Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples social traditions, and complex systems of government. Some were matriarchal. Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 2: “At contact with Europeans, each of the hundreds of Indigenous Continued on page 35

22 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 The very fact that treaties were concluded with these nations all the participants. Fold one blanket and set it aside. confirms they were sovereign peoples. The Royal Commission Invite everyone to remove their shoes and to stand on the on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) said a new relationship with blankets. Ask them to move around on the blankets. Ask Indigenous peoples is desperately needed and should be your volunteer Europeans(s) to stand with you. based on the reality of Indigenous nationhood. This new relationship should also be based on respect, sharing and the The Narrator now begins reading mutual recognition of rights and responsibilities. But RCAP the script below: also said this new relationship would be difficult because, Narrator: These blankets represent the northern part among other things, it would require “decolonizing the of Turtle Island, or North America, before the arrival of relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people Europeans. You represent the Indigenous peoples, the in Canada, a road that the experience in other societies original inhabitants. demonstrates is not an easy one to follow.” Long before the arrival of Europeans, Turtle Island was home Learning through Experiencing: to millions of people living in thousands of distinct, self- The Blanket Exercise governing societies that formed hundreds of nations.

Tell people they are about to participate in an interactive These were fishing, hunting, and farming societies, with exercise designed to deepen their understanding of the their own languages, cultures, and traditions. These nations denial of Indigenous peoples’ nationhood in Canada. The had their own laws and ways of governing themselves. exercise should help us notice how First Nations, Inuit As Nations, you worked with one another. You traded and and later Métis peoples lost access to their land and what shared gifts through networks of trails and water routes that impact this loss had on their communities – both in the past covered thousands of kilometres. You learned to resolve and today. This exercise will also show us how Indigenous clashes and disputes over lands and resources through peoples have always resisted assimilation. Tell the group that treaty-making. for some people this exercise may generate difficult feelings. Assure participants that the last step includes a discussion so Diverse as you were, as Indigenous peoples you shared people can share their feelings in a respectful way. things in common. Your relationship to the land defined who you were as peoples. All of your needs – food, clothing, Use the three maps from the Report of the Royal Commission shelter, culture, spiritual fulfillment – were met by the land on Aboriginal Peoples that are included in this booklet – and waters, represented here by the blankets. In turn, you “Turtle Island”, “Treaties” and “Aboriginal Lands Today” took very seriously your collective responsibility to serve – to explain that the exercise is designed to help people and protect the land. understand how Indigenous peoples went from using and occupying all of the land we now call Canada, and Introduce the volunteer (or volunteers) who represent(s) which some Indigenous people refer to as Turtle Island, to the European settlers. a situation where reserves, or “lands reserved for Indians”, Narrator: Then-- events occurred in Europe at the end of amount to only 1/10 of 1% of Canada’s land mass (below the 15th century that would deeply impact your societies. In the 60th parallel). 1493 the King and Queen of Spain asked Pope Alexander VI Lay the blankets on the floor up against each other so as to issue the following papal bull or “solemn declaration” from to create a blanketed area large enough to accommodate the Vatican. Known as the Doctrine of Discovery, it established

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 35 Christian dominion and subjugation control over “pagan” to about half the participants, and yellow cards to about one- non-Christians. It also granted Spain the right to conquer any third of the remaining participants. One of the yellow cards lands its explorers discovered. Non-Christian nations could no should have an “X” on it. Give blue cards to two participants. longer own the lands, and the Indigenous people were to be (Note: If the group is large enough, ensure that at least 10 placed under the guardianship of those Christian nations that participants do not receive cards.) “discovered” their lands. They were to be taught the right way Narrator: These treaties were international agreements to believe and live—by force if necessary. between the European crowns and your nations. They European - Scroll A (in a loud, pompous voice): We … by formally recognized each nation’s sovereignty and the authority of Almighty God … give, grant, and assign independence. They affirmed that you - the Indigenous to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and peoples - are the original inhabitants, that your territories Leon, forever, all islands and main lands found and to be belong to you, and that you are self-governing. found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west European - Scroll B (in a loud voice): The Royal Proclamation and south, … from the Arctic pole … to the Antarctic pole of 1763 hereby confirms that Indigenous nations have … And we make, appoint, and depute you and your said title to their lands, and that consensual treaty-making heirs and successors lords of them with full and free power, with the Crown is the only way that land can be ceded authority, and jurisdiction of every kind. from Indigenous peoples. The year 2013 marks the 250th Narrator: And so began the process of the European anniversary of the Royal Proclamation. “discovery” and colonization of Turtle Island that started in Narrator: Later on, the Canadian federal government the east and moved across the continent. replaced the Crown as the treaty-making body, and the The European(s) step(s) on the blankets and begin(s) to mill Royal Proclamation of 1763 was entrenched in Canada’s around. Constitution Act, 1982. To Indigenous peoples, treaties were sacred agreements that were marked with spiritual Narrator: When Europeans first arrived on Turtle Island they ceremonies. They were not statements of submission or were greatly outnumbered by you, the Indigenous people, surrender, or real estate deals. Instead, they were statements and they depended on you for their survival. They needed of peace, friendship, and alliance that were based on you to help them make sense of the complex political and instructions of traditional Indigenous spirituality around social systems that already existed. sharing, respect and honesty. Treaties were a way of sharing land and resources, and of ensuring peaceful co-existence Your early relationships with the settlers were based on among diverse peoples. cooperation and interdependence. You married each other. The settlers and their governors recognized you as distinct Now the European(s) begin(s) to slowly fold the blankets peoples with self-governing societies. This led to nation- over, making the blanket space smaller and smaller. The to-nation relationships which were formalized in treaties, Narrator should remind the participants they must not step including some trade arrangements and military alliances. off the blankets. The objective is to stay on the blankets, even Two of the oldest agreements – the Covenant Chain and as they get smaller. the Two Row Wampum – were concluded between the Europeans and the Haudenosaunee, who live in the east in Narrator: But the Europeans had altogether different views what we now call Quebec, Ontario and the state of New York. of land, and of treaties. For them, land was a commodity that could be bought and sold and treaties were a means The European(s) begins shaking hands while milling around. of getting you, the Indigenous peoples, to “surrender” or While shaking hands, he/she/they give(s) out white index cards “extinguish” your title to the land.

36 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Over time, your relationship with the settlers worsened. by the government. Some was taken by force, which led to With the end of the War of 1812, the newcomers in the some of you being killed. East no longer needed you as military allies. In the West, Without access to the land you could no longer practice as the fur trade dried up and colonists turned more and your traditional lifestyles. Many of you lost your cultures and more to agriculture, they no longer needed you as trading languages. Some of you lost all hope, and a reason to live. partners either. The federal government also imposed the Indian Act Soon the Europeans began to outnumber you. One reason system of government on your communities, ignoring your for this was diseases the Europeans brought with them: traditional governments and excluding women. diseases such as small pox, measles and TB, for which you had no immunity. Some experts believe fully half The Narrator walks to one person in the “east”. the Indigenous people alive at the time died from these Narrator: You represent the Beothuk, the original diseases. Many communities were decimated and lost up to inhabitants of what is now Newfoundland. Your people – 90 percent of their members. the ones who didn’t starve or die in violent encounters with Narrator: British military leaders Lord Jeffrey Amherst and settlers trying to take your lands - were hunted and killed, William Trent have passages in their journals from the end or taken captive for reward. Your people are now extinct. of the 18th century that reveal a clear intent to spread small Please step off the blankets. pox to Indigenous peoples through infected blankets. The Narrator walks to the “south” and chooses two people One European walks to a person and gives them a folded blanket. who are standing close together. Narrator: You represent the First Nations that were divided European - Scroll C: “Infect the Indians with sheets upon when the border between the United States and British which smallpox patients have been lying, or by any other Canada was created. This border cut through communities, means which may exterminate this accursed race.” (Lord and cut you off from each other. Please move to separate Jeffery Amherst) blankets. Narrator: All people with white index cards - please step The European(s) guide(s) each person to a separate blanket, off the blanket. You represent the millions of Indigenous and then walk(s) with the Narrator to the “west” where they peoples who died of the various diseases to which you had choose one person. no immunity. We will take a minute of silence to remember those who died. Narrator: In the prairies, an influx of settlers and the transfer of a large tract of land from the Hudson’s Bay Company to (Continuing) More Europeans also meant an ever increasing the Government of Canada met with significant resistance demand for land for settlement. Fuelled by new ideas from from you, the Métis. During some of the clashes that ensued Europe about the inferiority of non-white races and women, you were joined by the Cree. In the end you were defeated colonists began to view you as obstacles to expansion and by the government’s soldiers. You represent those leaders settlement, and as a “problem” to be solved. of the resistance who died in battle, were put in jail, or were executed. Please step off the blankets. The colonial governments adopted policies and practices to take your land. Some was taken in war. A lot more, since it The European walks to the “north” and chooses one “island” was taken without any right or justification, was stolen of people.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 37 Narrator: In the High Arctic, Inuit communities were basis for Canada’s existence. In today’s context, it continues removed from their traditional territories and relocated to to oppress Indigenous peoples through laws that do not isolated, barren lands with which they were unfamiliar, often recognize our right to govern ourselves. This has a negative with devastating results. impact on our identities, languages and cultures. It also forces us - not the settlers- to prove title to the land. European - Scroll D: You represent those First Peoples – the Inuit, and the Innu at Davis Inlet, and countless other Participant - Scroll 2: The British North America (BNA) Act - Indigenous communities – who suffered and sometimes died The BNA Act, also known as the Constitution Act of 1867, put through forced relocation. Please move one of the blankets “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians” under the control of away from the others, fold it small and sit down on it. the federal government.

The European(s) direct(s) the group to a smaller, folded blanket. Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 2: The BNA Act was drafted in part to provide policy “teeth” for Sir John Narrator: Those with blue cards, please step off the A. MacDonald’s announcement that Canada’s goal was “to blankets. You represent those who died of malnutrition after do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian being forced off your traditional territories and away from people in all respects with the inhabitants of the Dominion.” your hunting grounds. The act specified how Indigenous people were put “under The European(s) and the Narrator present participants – the protection” of the Crown. It provided the legal base for either on or off the blankets – with the three types of the treaties, and it emphasized the government’s central numbered scrolls – Participant, Background and Context. priorities of “assimilation, enfranchisement, and civilization.” Please note that in some cases there may not be a title and Background or Context scroll. As the Narrator calls out the Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 2: Assimilation numbers, each participant unrolls the scroll and reads it is still a priority. Current federal government registration aloud. With smaller groups, each participant can read more policies for receiving recognition as a status Indian will than one scroll. Depending on the number of participants, eventually lead to the elimination of status Indians. the Narrator can read the background scrolls or ask other Participant - Scroll 3: The Indian Act - All laws respecting participants to read them. “Indians” were first consolidated into the Indian Act in 1876. Participant - Scroll 1: Terra Nullius - The notion of Terra It is still in force today and was last updated in 2011. Nullius, which in Latin means “empty land”, gave a colonial European - Scroll E, Part I (reads the first part of this scroll nation the right to absorb any territory encountered by in a loud voice): Now hear this! According to the Indian Act explorers. These were the hunting and trapping lands of of 1876 and the British North America Act of 1867, you and Indigenous peoples. all of your territories are now under the direct control of Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 1: If the land the Canadian federal government. You will be placed on was deemed “empty” by the settler government it was reserves. Please fold your blankets until they are just large considered subject to the Doctrine of Discovery and could be enough to stand on. claimed by the European explorers. Over time, this concept Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 3: Through the was conveniently expanded to include lands not occupied by “civilized” peoples, or lands not being put to “civilized” use. Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs took complete control over your economic, social and political affairs. Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 1: The Doctrine Your cultures were the last barrier to colonization so their of Discovery embodies a colonial mentality and is the legal foundations were attacked by this act. Hunting and fishing

38 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 were restricted. Ceremonies like the potlatch, sundance and died from diseases and the survivors were absorbed into pow-wow, all vital aspects of life for many First Nations, were the larger society. As Indian Affairs deputy superintendent outlawed. The federal government took control of deciding Duncan Campbell Scott stated, the government’s goal was who was and was not an “Indian”, and Indigenous women “to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that who married non-Indigenous men lost their Indian status. has not been absorbed into the body politic and that there You went from being independent First Nations, with your is no Indian problem and no Indian Department.” own governance structures, into impoverished “bands”, and as individuals, you became “wards of the state.” The Inuit Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 5: One way the were included under the Indian Act in 1939. The Métis are Canadian government pressures us to leave our lands is by not covered by the Indian Act. failing to provide us with basic services: • Over half the drinking water systems on reserve pose a European - Scroll E Part II (reads the second part of this scroll significant risk to human health. (OAG 2011) in a loud voice): You may not leave your reserve without a permit. You may not vote. You may not gather to discuss • There are 85,000 new housing units needed on reserve your rights. You may not practice your traditional spirituality and 60% of existing houses are in need of repair. (AFN 2012) or your traditional forms of government. To do any of these things is to face prosecution and imprisonment. • There is inadequate access to health care contributing to situations such as rates of TB amongst the Inuit being Narrator: The Indian Act also severely restricted Indigenous 284 times higher than for Canadian-born non-Indigenous land rights. For example, under the Indian Act, it was illegal to people. (NAHO 2012) raise money to fight for land rights in the courts until 1951. Participant - Scroll 6: Residential Schools - From 1820 Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 3: The Indian to the 1970s, the federal government removed us, the Act continues to give the federal government the power to First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, from our homes preside over many aspects of our lives. For example, under and communities and placed us in church-run boarding the Indian Act the federal government can abolish the schools, often far from our families. In most cases we were customary government of a First Nation and impose band not allowed to speak our own languages. Most of us stayed council elections. at the school for 8-10 months, while others stayed all year. While some of us report having positive experiences at Participant - Scroll 4: Enfranchisement - Under this federal the schools, many of us suffered from the impoverished policy, all First Nation people who became doctors, lawyers conditions and from emotional, physical and sexual or who entered other professions would be granted abuse. Many more of us lost family connections and the “enfranchisement”, and be forced to give up our legal Indian opportunity to learn our culture and traditions from our status. In other words, the government would “reclassify” elders. Raised in an institution, most of us lost our parenting Indigenous people who were entering professions, as skills. Some students died at residential school. Many of us Canadians, making us ineligible for treaty benefits. Since this never returned to our home communities, or were shunned included lawyers, it effectively prevented land rights cases if we did. The last federally-run residential school closed in from reaching the courts during the first half of the 1900s. 1996.

Participant - Scroll 5: Assimilation – Over a hundred Narrator: All people with yellow cards must now move years ago it was widely assumed that the so-called “Indian in groups to separate, empty blankets (the European can problem” would soon solve itself as Indigenous people decide who goes where). You represent those who were

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 39 taken out of your communities and placed in residential mismanagement, intimidation, expropriation for military schools far from home. purposes, or for development. Rarely has the government attempted to replace this land, or to compensate us for The person with the yellow index card that is marked with its use. an “X” must step off the blanket. You represent those who died as a result of their experience at residential schools. Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 8: By targeting women, you target the heart of the nation. In many All others with yellow cards, you may return to your home Indigenous traditions, women are the carriers of culture communities, though you may always struggle to feel at and tradition. Indigenous women have been specifically home with your own people. targeted through federal legislation and policies that attempt to erode our communities and in so doing, make it The Narrator asks those without index cards to turn their easier to take our lands. back on the returning “children” with yellow index cards, to symbolize the rejection and exclusion that they feel. • Indigenous women are at least three times as likely to experience violence as non-Indigenous women in Canada. Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 6: One (Statistics Canada 2009) goal of residential schools was to wipe out Indigenous languages. Federally funded schools on reserve currently • Almost 6oo Indigenous women have gone missing or get on average $2,000-$3,000 less per student, per year, been murdered since the 1970s, and these are only the than schools off reserve (Caledon Institute 2008) making cases that have been documented. The real number is it extremely difficult to address the issue of language loss undoubtedly much higher. caused by residential schools. Participant - Scroll 9: Meanwhile, large companies set up Participant - Scroll 7: The 1969 “White Paper” The shop in our territories, generate huge profits from natural “White Paper” was the Trudeau government’s attempt to resources and often pollute and deplete the land, without solve the “Indian problem” by abolishing the Indian Act regard to Indigenous or treaty rights, and without benefits and assimilating Indigenous peoples into Euro-Canadian flowing to Indigenous peoples. society. This outraged Indigenous peoples. We saw it as a termination of our rights and organized to defeat it. Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 9: A major Out of this came the National Indian Brotherhood – now cause of poverty in our communities is that virtually none the Assembly of First Nations (or AFN) – as well as other of the profits from resource extraction on our lands flow to Indigenous rights organizations. our communities. There are approximately eight times more on-reserve children in care than children living off reserve The Narrator asks participants to unfold one small corner (OAG 2008). Often First Nations children enter care due to of their blankets to commemorate these successful acts of poverty; we as their parents are unable to provide them with resistance against the federal government’s “termination” the necessities of life. (Standing Committee on the Status of legislation. The European can intervene if people are Women 2011) unfolding too much of the blankets. Participant - Scroll 10: Extinguishing Rights - Canada’s Participant - Scroll 8: Broken promises - Over the years, extinguishment policy forces us to surrender our title more than two-thirds of the land set aside for treaties has and rights to the vast majority of our lands in return for a been lost or stolen. It has been taken through fraud, settlement that limits our rights and gives us access to

40 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 only a tiny fraction of our traditional territories. Canada we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has has been criticized by national and international human caused great harm, and has no place in our country.” rights experts for this policy. The current policy, which is called the “non-assertion, modified rights” policy, Narrator: This apology was followed by the convening of requires us to agree to never assert our rights. Numerous the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC’s international and domestic human rights bodies, including five year mandate includes hearing the stories of residential the United Nations, have told Canada that requiring us school survivors and others, and documenting the truth of to never assert our rights is the same as extinguishing the residential school system. those rights. Pause… Narrator: Indigenous peoples continue to view treaties as sacred agreements between sovereign nations that must Narrator: In November, 2010, Canada endorsed the United be honoured to ensure the equitable sharing of resources Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. and a peaceful, just co-existence. But that view of treaties is Under development for more than 20 years, the Declaration generally not accepted by non-Indigenous society, which is one of the most intensely debated human rights often views treaties as a form of surrender. instruments in U.N. history. Indigenous peoples themselves have been an integral part of its development. Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 10: Treaties affirm our jurisdiction over our territories and are part of Participant - Scroll 11: United Nations Declaration on our right to self-determination. Failing to uphold Indigenous the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - The Declaration was a peoples’ right to self-determination contributes to feelings response to the lack of a comprehensive set of international of hopelessness, especially amongst our youth. Suicide standards on the rights of Indigenous peoples on the part of rates amongst Indigenous youth are on average six times the United Nations. Although Canada had previously played higher than they are amongst other youth in Canada, and an important role in developing the Declaration, it was one 11 times higher for Inuit youth. (Health Canada) of only 4 countries to vote against it at the United Nations in Narrator: Recently, there have been some positive 2007. In 2008, over 100 constitutional and Indigenous rights developments in the relationship between Indigenous and experts signed an open letter that said Canada’s reasons non-Indigenous people in Canada. On June 11, 2008, Prime for opposing the Declaration as misleading, erroneous, and Minister Stephen Harper, on behalf of the Government of extraordinary. Canada, issued an official apology for the Indian Residential Schools system. Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 11: Following years of action by Indigenous people, organizations and European - Scroll F: An excerpt from the Prime Minister’s their partners – including church groups – the Government Apology to Survivors of Indian Residential Schools: “Two of Canada finally endorsed the Declaration on November primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were 12, 2010. But it did so with qualifications, and described the to remove and isolate children from the influence of their Declaration as an “aspirational” document that is subject homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate to existing Canadian law, including, of course, the Indian them into the dominant culture. These objectives were Act. Nevertheless, Canada’s endorsement of the Declaration based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual has been heralded as a significant new moment in the beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child”. Today, in Canada by many Indigenous groups and their allies.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 41 The Narrator asks all the remaining participants to unfold Reflecting another corner of their blankets ONCE (again, if too much Invite those people who have stepped off the blankets to blanket is being unfolded, the European(s) can intervene), join those still on the blankets in a period of silent reflection. and asks one person to read the following quote: Ask them to look around the room and to compare what they see now to what they saw at the beginning of the exercise. Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 5- “The Declaration is fundamentally about building meaningful Then invite people to take their seats, leaving the blankets relationships with Indigenous peoples across the globe, and in place. Ask people to share their insights and emotions. with nation-states and with Indigenous rights supporters. What did they experience? What did they feel? What did It is about our relationships with each other, our lands, they learn? Be aware that participating in such an exercise natural resources, our laws, our rights, our languages, our can have a strong impact on participants, especially spirituality, our ways of life.”—Phil Fontaine, Former National First Nations, Inuit or Métis people. It is important to Chief of the Assembly of First Nations allow time for participants to share their feelings. If time permits, consider using a talking circle instead of a general Narrator: In order for these good words and positive discussion. In a talking circle, participants do not debate developments to be meaningful first steps towards genuine or challenge each other’s words. Instead, they practice reconciliation and justice - and not simply more broken listening. If possible, invite an Indigenous elder or spiritual promises - they must be followed by tangible action from leader to facilitate the circle. the Government of Canada and Canadians. Here is a suggested question for discussion: At this point, there should be only a few people remaining • How have non-Indigenous people benefited from the on blankets that have been folded over many times. historical and current denial of Indigenous nationhood in Canada? In other words, how is the standard of Participant - Scroll 12: The Government of Canada and the living that most non-Indigenous people in Canada enjoy United Nations have repeatedly identified the conditions connected to the ongoing discrimination and inequity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as Canada’s most experienced by Indigenous peoples? pressing human rights problem. According to the U.N., Canada is consistently ranked one of the ten best places in It may be helpful to incorporate the two case studies found the world to live. However, by the same measure, the living on page 54 into the discussion. conditions of Indigenous peoples compares to those of nations ranked in the high 60s. The facilitator can note that we ended the Blanket Exercise by saying that good words of reconciliation and justice Narrator: And yet despite the Government of Canada’s require concrete action if they are to be meaningful. In the concerted efforts to assimilate Indigenous peoples, you Suggested Follow-Up to the Blanket Exercise on page 55 you continue to resist and to pass down your languages, will find a list of resources that can be used in guiding the ceremonies, land-based practices and governance discussion towards what participants can do to further what structures. But the violence of colonization has left a they have learned. tremendous burden of pain and, as the Prime Minister stated in the residential schools apology, “the burden is properly ours as a Government, and as a country.”

42 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Scrolls for Photocopying: Grades 9-12 & Adult Version  Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 1: “Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”—Georges Erasmus, Dene Nation, co-chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples

Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 2:  “At contact with Europeans, each of the hundreds of Indigenous Peoples of Indigenous America possessed all the elements of nationhood that were well- established by European settlers: territory, governing structures, legal systems and a historical continuity with our territories. Nothing since the arrival of Columbus has occurred to merit any reduction in the international legal status of Indigenous Peoples. The recognition of Indigenous Nations and our rights possess no threat to non-Indigenous Peoples.”—Sharon Venne, Cree

Participant - Hearings Indigenous Voices Scroll 3:  “First Nations are nations. First Nations (treaty people) signed over 300 treaties with the Europeans during the 1700s and 1800s. The treaties agreed to share the lands and resources with the immigrants. … Under existing legislation, treaty people are “sovereign” nations. … The Indians surrendered over 9.9 million square kilometres of their land to the immigrants. Today, the sons of the immigrants have the largest treaty rights in Canada. The Indians have become the poorest peoples in Canada.” —Chief Pascall Bighetty, Pukatawagan First Nation

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 43 Participant - Hearings Indigenous Voices Scroll 4:  “Our cultures, our religions, our governments and our ways of life are all in danger. We are not simply individuals with individual’s rights; on the contrary, we exist as distinct peoples, distinct communities, real functioning nations. We hold our lands in common; we hold our cultures and religions as nations and as communities and groups.”—Chief Jake Swamp, Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation, Haudenosaunee.

European - Scroll A (in a loud, pompous voice):  We … by the authority of Almighty God … give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and Leon, forever, all islands and main lands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south, … from the Arctic pole … to the Antarctic pole … And we make, appoint, and depute you and your said heirs and successors lords of them with full and free power, authority, and jurisdiction of every kind.

European - Scroll B (in a loud voice):  The Royal Proclamation of 1763 hereby confirms that Indigenous nations have title to their lands, and that consensual treaty-making with the Crown is the only way that land can be ceded from Indigenous peoples. The year 2013 marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation.

European - Scroll C:  “Infect the Indians with sheets upon which smallpox patients have been lying, or by any other means which may exterminate this accursed race.” (Lord Jeffery Amherst)

44 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 European - Scroll D:  You represent those First Peoples – the Inuit, and the Innu at Davis Inlet, and countless other Indigenous communities – who suffered and sometimes died through forced relocation. Please move one of the blankets away from the others, fold it small and sit down on it.

Participant - Scroll 1: Terra Nullius  The notion of Terra Nullius, which in Latin means “empty land” – gave a colonial nation the right to take over any territory encountered by explorers. These were the hunting and trapping lands of Indigenous peoples.  Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 1: If the land was deemed “empty” by the settler government it was considered subject to the Doctrine of Discovery and could be claimed by the European explorers. Over time, this concept was conveniently expanded to include lands not occupied by “civilized” peoples, or lands not being put to “civilized” use.

Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 1:  The Doctrine of Discovery embodies a colonial mentality and is the legal basis for Canada’s existence. In a contemporary context, it continues to oppress Indigenous peoples through laws that do not recognize our right to govern ourselves, which has a negative impact on our identities, languages and cultures. It also forces us - not the settlers- to prove title to the land.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 45 Participant - Scroll 2: The British North America (BNA) Act  The BNA Act, also known as the Constitution Act of 1867, put “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians” under the control of the federal government.  Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 2: The BNA Act was drafted in part to provide policy “teeth” for Sir John A. MacDonald’s announcement that Canada’s goal was “to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the inhabitants of the Dominion.” The act spelled out how Indigenous people were put “under the protection” of the Crown. It provided the legal base for the treaties, and it emphasized the government’s central priorities of “assimilation, enfranchisement, and civilization.”

Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 2:  Assimilation is still a priority. Current federal government registration policies for receiving recognition as a status Indian will eventually lead to the total disappearance of status Indians.  Participant - Scroll 3: The Indian Act All laws respecting “Indians” were put together into the Indian Act in 1876. It is still in force today and was last updated in 2011.

46 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012  European - Scroll E, Part I (reads the first part of this scroll in a loud voice): Now hear this! According to the Indian Act of 1876 and the British North America Act of 1867, you and all of your territories are now under the direct control of the Canadian federal government. You will be placed on reserves. Please fold your blankets until they are just large enough to stand on.

Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 3:  Through the Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs took complete control over your economic, social and political affairs. Your cultures were the last barrier to colonization so their foundations were attacked by this act. Hunting and fishing were restricted, and the potlatch, sundance and pow-wow, all vital aspects of life for many First Nations, were outlawed. The federal government took control of deciding who was and was not an “Indian”, and Indigenous women who married non-Indigenous men lost their Indian status. You went from being independent First Nations, with your own government, to “bands”, living in poverty. As individuals, you became “wards of the state.” The Inuit were included under the Indian Act in 1939. The Métis are not covered by the Indian Act.  European - Scroll E Part II (reads the second part of this scroll in a loud voice): You may not leave your reserve without a permit. You may not vote. You may not gather to discuss your rights. You may not practice your traditional spirituality or your traditional forms of government. Doing any of these things means you will face a trial and even jail.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 47 Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 3:  The Indian Act continues to give the federal government the power to preside over many aspects of our lives. For example, under the Indian Act the federal government can abolish the customary government of a First Nation and impose band council elections.  Participant - Scroll 4: Enfranchisement (en-fran-CHISE-ment) Under this federal policy, all First Nation people who became doctors, lawyers or who entered other professions would be granted “enfranchisement”, and be forced to give up our legal Indian status. In other words, the government would “reclassify” Indigenous people who were entering professions, as Canadians, making us ineligible for treaty benefits. Since this included lawyers, it effectively prevented land rights cases from reaching the courts during the first half of the 1900s.

Participant - Scroll 5: Assimilation (ah-sim-ill-EH-shun)  Over a hundred years ago it was widely assumed that the so-called “Indian problem” would soon solve itself as Indigenous people died from diseases and the survivors were absorbed into the larger society. As Indian Affairs deputy superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott stated, the government’s goal was “to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and that there is no Indian problem and no Indian Department.”

48 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 5:  One way the Canadian government pressures us to leave our lands is by failing to provide us with basic services: • Over half the drinking water systems on reserves pose a significant risk to human health. • There are 85,000 new housing units needed on reserve and 60% of existing houses are in need of repair. • There is inadequate access to health care contributing to situations such as rates of TB amongst the Inuit being 284 times higher than for Canadian-born non-Indigenous people.

Participant - Scroll 6: Residential Schools  From 1820 to the 1970s, the federal government removed us, the First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, from our homes and communities and placed us in church-run boarding schools, often far from our families. In most cases we were not allowed to speak our own languages. Most of us stayed at the school for 8-10 months, while others stayed all year. While some of us report having positive experiences at the schools, many of us suffered from the impoverished conditions and from emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Many more of us lost family connections and the opportunity to learn our culture and traditions from our elders. We were raised in an institution, so most of us lost our parenting skills. Some students died at residential school. Many of us never returned to our home communities, or were shunned if we did. The last federally-run residential school closed in 1996.

Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 6: One goal of residential schools was to do away with Indigenous languages. Federally  funded schools on reserve currently get on average $2,000-$3,000 less per student, per year, than schools off reserve making it extremely difficult to address the issue of language loss caused by residential schools.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 49  Participant - Scroll 7: The 1969 “White Paper” The “White Paper” was the Trudeau government’s attempt to solve the “Indian problem” by getting rid of the Indian Act and assimilating Indigenous peoples into Euro-Canadian society. This outraged Indigenous peoples. We saw it as a termination of our rights and organized to defeat it. Out of this came the National Indian Brotherhood – now the Assembly of First Nations (or AFN) – as well as other Indigenous rights organizations.  Participant - Scroll 8: Broken promises Over the years, more than two-thirds of the land set aside for treaties has been lost or stolen. It has been taken through fraud, mismanagement, and threats. It was taken away for military purposes, or for development. Rarely has the government attempted to replace this land, or to compensate us for its use.  Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 8: By targeting women, you target the heart of the nation. In many Indigenous traditions, women are the carriers of culture and tradition. Indigenous women have been targeted through federal legislation and policies that our communities, try to weaken and take our lands. • Indigenous women are at least three times as likely to experience violence as non-Indigenous women in Canada. • Almost 6oo Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered since the 1970s. These are only the cases that have been documented. The real number is certainly much higher.

50 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 

Participant - Scroll 9: Meanwhile, large companies set up shop in our territories, make huge profits from natural resources and often pollute and exhaust the land. They do this without respecting Indigenous or treaty rights, and without benefits flowing to Indigenous peoples.  Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 9: A major cause of poverty in our communities is that almost none of the profits from resource extraction on our lands flow to our communities. There are approximately eight times more on-reserve children in foster care than children living off-reserve. Often First Nations children enter care due to poverty; we as their parents are unable to provide them with the basics of life.

Participant - Scroll 10: Extinguishing Rights (ex-TING-gwish-ing)  Canada’s extinguishment policy forces us to surrender our title and rights to almost all of our lands. In return we get a settlement that limits our rights and gives us access to only a tiny fraction of our traditional territories. Canada has been criticized by national and international human rights experts for this policy. The current policy, requires us to agree to never claim our rights. Numerous international and domestic human rights bodies, including the United Nations, have told Canada that requiring us to never assert our rights is the same as extinguishing those rights.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 51 Participant - Today is reality Context Scroll 10:  Treaties affirm our jurisdiction over our territories and are part of our right to self- determination. Failing to uphold Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination contributes to feelings of hopelessness especially amongst our youth. Suicide rates amongst our youth are on average six times higher than they are amongst other youth in Canada, and 11 times higher for Inuit youth.

European - Scroll F:  An excerpt from the Prime Minister’s Apology to Survivors of Indian Residential Schools: “Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child”. Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.”

Participant - Scroll 11: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous  Peoples The Declaration was a response to the lack of a comprehensive set of international standards on the rights of Indigenous peoples at the United Nations. Although Canada had previously played an important role in developing the Declaration, it was one of only 4 countries to vote against it at the United Nations in 2007. In 2008, over 100 constitutional and Indigenous rights experts signed an open letter that characterized Canada’s reasons for opposing the Declaration as misleading, erroneous, and extraordinary.

52 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 

Participant or Narrator - Background Scroll 11: Following years of action by Indigenous people, organizations and their partners – including church groups – the Government of Canada finally endorsed the Declaration on November 12, 2010. But it did so with qualifications, and described the Declaration as an “aspirational” document that is subject to existing Canadian law, including of course the Indian Act. Nevertheless, Canada’s endorsement of the Declaration has been heralded as a significant new moment in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by many Indigenous groups and their allies.

Participant - Hearing Indigenous Voices Scroll 5:  “The Declaration is fundamentally about building meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples across the globe, and with nation-states and with Indigenous rights supporters. It is about our relationships with each other, our lands, natural resources, our laws, our rights, our languages, our spirituality, our ways of life.” —Phil Fontaine, Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations  Participant - Scroll 12: The Government of Canada and the United Nations have repeatedly said that the conditions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as Canada’s most pressing human rights problem. According to the U.N., Canada is often ranked one of the ten best places in the world to live. However, by the same measure, the living conditions of Indigenous peoples compares to those of nations ranked 60 and higher.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 53 Case Studies

Jordan’s Principle: a child from accessing health care services. Although this principle was adopted by the House of Commons Jordan’s Principle: Jordan River Anderson of the Norway as a private member’s bill in 2007, it has never been House Cree Nation died in hospital at age 5 despite implemented. having been able to move to home care at age two. The reason he was never able to go home was that the The following U.N. Declaration article is a good example different levels of government could not agree on who of where we find entrenchment of Jordan’s Principle. should pay for Jordan’s home care. Article 24(2) “Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard Jordan’s Principle sets out that no child should be of physical and mental health. States shall take the caught in the middle of a dispute over funding. Rather, necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the government of first contact is responsible for initial the full realization of this right”. payments that are in the best interest of the child. Disputes over reimbursement can be worked out For more information on Jordan’s Principle: separately between governments so they don’t prevent http://www.fncfcs.com/jordans-principle

Shannen’s Dream: hundreds of miles away. Tragically, while away at school, she died in a car accident. She was 15. Before her death The school in Attawapiskat First Nation in northern she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Ontario is condemned because the land it’s built on Prize. She also spearheaded a campaign that continues is contaminated by 50,000 liters of diesel fuel. For ten to gain momentum and has been re-named “Shannen’s years the students have used run-down portables that Dream” in her honour. are freezing in winter, are fire traps, and are infested with mice. According to a 2007 internal INAC document, On February 27, 2012, the Parliament of Canada voted “existing portables are in need of extensive repair” and unanimously in the House of Commons for a private there is “student overcrowding in classrooms.” member’s motion that “All First Nation Children Have an Equal Right to High-Quality, Culturally-Relevant Since 2001, three federal Ministers of Indian Affairs have Education”. It was a huge success for all those seeking promised the students of Attawapiskat a new school. equity for Indigenous peoples in Canada. Those students are still waiting. By 2008, the grade eight students had had enough of the broken promises and It was also the result of thousands of Indigenous and the deplorable condition of their classrooms. Led by 13 non-Indigenous children and youth who support year old student Shannen Koostachin, they travelled “Shannen’s Dream”, which calls for “safe and comfy to Ottawa to ask for a new school, but then Minister of schools and culturally-based and equitable education” for Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl said it was not possible. There First Nations students. is no timeline in place to provide the community with a new school. To learn more about Shannen’s Dream and what you Shannen’s goal of becoming a lawyer meant she had can do as a group or as individuals, please visit to leave home to attend high school in a community http://www.fncfcs.com/shannensdream/.

54 Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 ‘The 100 Years of Loss’ edu-kit has been developed by Suggested The Legacy of Hope Foundation. It is designed to support educators and administrators in raising awareness and Follow-up to the teaching about the history and legacy of residential schools. It is for Canadian youth aged 11 to 18 and includes six multi- Blanket Exercise layered lesson plans, a wall-mounted timeline, and survivor videos, as well as teacher resources and extension activities. You can order your free edu-kit by going to the Foundation’s Truth Reconciliation & Equity: What Can I Do: KAIROS website: http://www.legacyofhope.ca/projects/100-years-of- has been invited to support the Truth and Reconciliation loss-edu-kit Commission in its public witness initiative. Inspired by this collaboration, and under the banner Truth, Reconciliation ‘What Can I Do to Help the Families of Missing and and Equity: They Matter to Us!, KAIROS proposes you can Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls?’ is a community get involved: 1) make use of our workshop and resource resource guide by the Native Women’s Association of materials; 2) be a public witness by submitting a photo Canada. In it you will find toolkits, fact sheets, suggested of yourself and others holding a sign that says “Truth, resources as well as information on how to respectfully Reconciliation and Equity: They Matter to Us!”; 3) meet and safely introduce this issue into the classroom. It can be with your MP to press for the full implementation of the downloaded for free from the NWAC website: www.nwac.ca U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; 4) host a display of banners from “Roll with the Declaration” The Métis Education Kit/Trousses d’education metises and consider making a banner to hang somewhere in your is an exciting resource for students, teachers, educators, community; 5) perform our campaign skit. All of this and and community members to use inside and out of the more can be found on our campaign webpage: http://www.kairoscanada.org|tre. classroom. Created by the Métis Nation of Ontario, it can be used to teach Métis history, culture and heritage. Each The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of kit contains a variety of items including a sash, flashcards, Canada is working to give First Nations children the same fiddle music and a timeline of Métis history in Ontario. chance as other Canadians to grow up safely at home, get a Kits can be ordered online: http://www.metisnation.org/ good education, be healthy, and be proud of their cultures. programs/education--training/metis-education-kittrousses- The Caring Society’s three main campaigns focus on areas d%E2%80%99education-metisse. where First Nations children experience discrimination: education, health, and child welfare. The Shannen’s Dream Project of Heart is an award-winning initiative that campaign is for safe and comfy schools and culturally based commemorates Indian residential schools. Small wooden education for First Nations children: www.shannensdream.ca. tiles are decorated, each in memory of a child who lost their The Jordan’s Principle campaign is working to ensure that life at a residential school. The Project includes testimony First Nations children are not denied health services because from a survivor and focuses on the learning that takes place the provincial and federal governments cannot agree on who at the level of the spirit and heart and not just the mind. should pay for those services: www.jordansprinciple.ca. The ‘i am a witness’ campaign calls on Canadians to follow Diverse groups of people are invited to be a part of this an historic human rights case that has been brought initiative including schools, youth groups, worship groups against the federal government based on evidence that and activist groups. All the information to receive a kit can it is underfunding child welfare services on reserve: be found at: http://www.projectofheart.ca/ www.fnwitness.ca.

Each of these campaign pages lists a number of actions for people of all ages - actions which only take a few minutes, and are free.

Blanket Exercise | © KAIROS, 2012 55 KAIROS: The members of KAIROS are: the Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Canadian Ecumenical Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, Canadian Conference Justice Initiatives of Catholic Bishops, Canadian Religious Conference, Christian Reformed 310 Dupont Street, Suite 200 Church in North America (Canada Corporation), Evangelical Lutheran Toronto ON M5R 1V9 Church in Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, the Presbyterian 416-463-5312 | 1-877-403-8933 Church in Canada, the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, www.kairoscanada.org Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and the United Church of Canada.