ATHABASCA - It has been 25 years since the KAIROS blanket exercise was introduced on a wide scale in 1997 to promote Indigenous reconciliation through education and understanding, and residents will have an opportunity to experience it for themselves Thursday, for free.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous have been brought together on countless occasions since its inception to learn about our shared history as Canadians and to provide some perspective for those who may not be aware of that ongoing struggle to let the light of the truth shine through.
Athabasca town Coun. Edie Yuill brought the event forward at council’s Oct. 4 regular meeting, encouraging her peers to take in the free event being held at the Athabasca Seniors Centre Thursday Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. The Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives is teaming up with the Athabasca Native Friendship Centre to provide the event free of charge, with the help of grants from the town and other community organizations as well as through the One Book, One Community program, which the library is participating in for the second straight year.
“It’s free to the public and they’re hoping for 50-60 to attend,” Yuill told council, urging them to attend off the council clock. “I think that considering we passed our land acknowledgment, it would be great if those of us who haven’t taken part before, will just go to it.”
Yuill said she experienced the exercise at a previous job and it was quite powerful, she said.
Coun. Ida Edwards agreed.
“I have done the exercise with another organization, and it is powerful, and put some clarity on some of the issues we deal with day-to-day.
In short, “the blanket exercise is based on using Indigenous methodologies and the goal is to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. Everyone is actively involved as they step onto blankets that represent the land, and into the role of First Nations, Inuit and later Métis peoples. By engaging on an emotional and intellectual level, the blanket exercise effectively educates and increases empathy,” according to the website at www.kairoscanada.org.
Organizers and are hoping up to 60 people will register.
To register, contact the library at 780-675-2735, the exercise is usually completed in about an hour.
