VANCOUVER—Grade 8 students at St. Patrick’s Regional Secondary School say participating in a recent First Nations blanket exercise in their gymnasium was eye-opening.
“This was a really touching experience,” said Chanel Javillo. She and her classmates got an interactive lesson Oct. 18 as they stood on blankets and learned the history of First Nations people in Canada. As the lesson progressed, the blankets were slowly folded and students representing Aboriginal people were asked to sit down as they lost rights to their land, faced illness, or were sent to residential schools.
Grade 8 student Benjamin Nguyen was one of those asked to sit out. “I got pulled out because I lost my (culture) and my parents,” he said. “I felt sad for the people who had that feeling back then.”
The Kairos Blanket Exercise has been hosted at several Catholic parishes and schools in recent years. Facilitator Anne Wicks, who led the exercise at St. Pat’s, is set to host another at St. Joseph the Worker Parish Nov. 18.
The event “is an important way for us to become more aware of our shared history with Indigenous peoples in Canada, and it is a powerful stepping stone to dialogue, understanding, and reconciliation between nations,” she said.
