In this activity participants share the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada covering over 500 years of history. Participants take on the roles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Standing on blankets that represent the land, they walk through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. They are directed by facilitators representing a narrator (or narrators) and the European colonizers. Following the activity, participants engage in a sharing circle to discuss their experiences.
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn about the policies and actions that have affected the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples through colonization.
- Explore the diversity of perspectives when examining experiences of Indigenous health and wellness through the interactive experience of the Kairos Blanket Exercise.
- Reflect on the relationship between colonization, intersectionality and experiences of oppression among Indigenous populations, and the impact on the healthcare relationship.
Facilitators: Elizabeth White-MacDonald, MacEwan University, Edmonton AB; and Vanessa Nevin, Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program Coordinator, FNIHB Atlantic, Halifax NS
Elizabeth is an Assistant Professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton where she has been teaching in the baccalaureate program since 2010. Liz has practiced as a staff nurse, a Nurse Practitioner/ Community Health Nurse in remote Aboriginal communities, and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/ Clinical Nurse Educator in Maternal/Child Health. She has been involved in MacEwan University’s Indigenous strategies and initiatives and is a member and past Chair of CAPWHN’s Advocacy & Health Policy Committee. Liz has participated in two Blanket exercises to date, one for an entire 4th year class of nursing students as an approach to responding to the need for reconciliation and the TRC Calls to Action.
Vanessa Nevin is the Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program Coordinator for First Nations Inuit Health Branch, Atlantic Region (Health Canada). Vanessa is Mi’kmaq and grew up in Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia. In addition to her extensive experience working with Indian Residential School issues she worked closely with the Truth & Reconciliation Commission on the Atlantic National event and hearings in 2011. Vanessa has a BA with a major in history from University of Victoria and is very close to completing her Masters in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University.