Blanket exercise set for Saturday at Rocky Point
As the ground shifts beneath your feet so, hopefully, does your perspective.
That’s the underpinning idea of the blanket exercise set to begin at 10 a.m. this Saturday at Rocky Point.
The ceremony is an effort to gain a new insight into the history of the land by incorporating an Indigenous perspective.
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For the purposes of the workshop, participants are put into the role of Indigenous people.
While pre-contact is discussed, the ceremony puts a focus on colonization, of treaties written and broken, and residential schools. As land is taken, the blankets underfoot get smaller or are removed.
Under the guidance of Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, the exercise also deals with resistance along with current events, including the final reports of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, according to facilitator KAIROS Canada.
After a few years of discussion, Port Moody council decided the time had come to participate in a blanket exercise to honour National Indigenous Peoples Day in 2022.
“I can’t think of a better way to show respect and gratitude for the National Indigenous People’s Day than to treat that evening with the reverence that accompanies a ceremonial meeting,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti, who was a councillor at the time.
Writing for Coast Mountain News, journalist Jessica Peters described the ceremony as less about guilt than empathy.
“I watched from my seat as Indigenous people across this land fought off an encroaching monarchy, government, and men whose names live on as we honour them with streets names, mountaintops, lakes and rivers,” Peters wrote.
The event is scheduled to finish with a talking circle where participants can talk about what they learned and felt and ask questions.
A parent or guardian’s signature is required for anyone under the age of 18. Participants as young as 14 are welcome.
The exercise is expected to finish at about 1 p.m. More info here.
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