“Tears are medicine” – our Blanket Exercise with Braving the Healing

You joined the ancestors after receiving a smallpox blanket as a “gift.”

You starved when you were forcibly removed from your traditional hunting grounds.

You were stolen from your community, and were lost without the crucial bonds of family and culture to hold you together.

You became a leader – an advocate – an inspiration.

You were one of the tens of thousands who never made it home.

Photo: Braving the Healing’s team, accompanied by Payworks’ DEIB and Talent Acquisition Manager Charli Champagne, introducing the Blanket Exercise.

In a Blanket Exercise, participants gather tightly together on interlayered blankets representing the northern part of Turtle Island (or as we know it, Canada). Many receive a token as they enter the exercise, which identifies the story of the Indigenous individuals, families and generations whom they’ve been selected to represent.

One by one, they discover the meaning of their token as the exercise moves through the past and present realities of Indigenous peoples on this land in the centuries since colonization began. Participants are moved to unfamiliar places, isolated from each other, or disproportionately disappear from the blankets altogether.

And those who were once surrounded and strengthened by community are left to move through their stories alone.

In November, Payworks invited Braving the Healing to lead members of our team in a Blanket Exercise at our Winnipeg HQ, following virtual Blanket Exercises that were well-received by staff all across the country.

Photo: Braving the Healing’s Lead Facilitator Viola Plett setting up the Blanket Exercise.

“It was important and valuable for us to bring in an in-person Blanket Exercise to provide an opportunity for our Payworks team to gather together and collectively experience Canada’s history through an Indigenous lens,” says Charli Champagne, Manager of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and Talent Acquisition.

“In order to meaningfully move forward in Truth and Reconciliation, it’s critical to gain an understanding of past harms and how those harms continue to pose challenges and impact Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island today. This, in turn, opens up hearts and minds and helps us to move in a compassionate way in our day to day actions, practices and strategies.”

Photo: Lunch from Shelly’s Indigenous Bistro.

In Winnipeg, almost 20 participants were greeted with lunch from Shelly’s Indigenous Bistro, and then invited to sit in circle with the exercise’s leaders: Lead Facilitator Viola Plett, Elder Carolyn Moar, and Co-Facilitator Mat Pilgrim.

After introductions, a prayer, and a tobacco offering and teaching, participants first engaged in a visual demonstration of intergenerational trauma and how the experiences of a child 100 years ago reach across time and connect to their descendants. It was a clear and memorable reminder that any step forward taken by today’s child carries the weight of their ancestors’ trauma.

“This was my first in-person Blanket Exercise, and I found visualizing the impact on Indigenous people and physically going through the exercise to be very impactful,” shares Norah Hidara, Business Operations Team Lead, who was also engaged to participate in the intergenerational trauma demonstration. “Having the visual really helps the message to stick all the more.”

Photo: A visual demonstration of intergenerational trauma.

With this perspective in mind, the Blanket Exercise began and the leaders provided context of where the participants were starting and whom they represented as a group: the Indigenous peoples of Canada before colonization began. Leaders told a clear story of Indigenous relationships to the land, each other, and their communities as pre-colonization nations of their own.

Using videos, music, and provided scripts, participants and leaders alike shared fictionalized first-hand accounts of our true, shared history: from the early days of colonization, through to stolen land, culture, children, and futures.

Once the Blanket Exercise reached the point in history where the Indian Act and its resulting reserve lands were introduced, not only were participants continually moved off the blankets; the blankets themselves were folded up to be much smaller, further increasing participants’ isolation from each other.

Images: Courtesy of The CJPME Foundation, via Braving the Healing – maps showing Indigenous dispossession in the centuries since colonization began.

The Blanket Exercise took participants through the realities and reverberating impacts of status removal, relocation, epidemics, Residential Schools, and the Sixties Scoop, all the way to apologies from the federal government and religious leaders, examples of Indigenous resilience, and the responsibilities of all Canadians in supporting Truth & Reconciliation.

“I grew up in Egypt, so I didn’t really get the chance to learn about Canadian history, but have always been interested to learn about other cultures so that I know where people are coming from when I have a conversation with them,” says Small Business Client Service Representative Ahmed Abdelshafi, who moved to Canada in 2016. “This Blanket Exercise was a great opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture and understand our responsibilities. If you’re considering attending one, you should do so without hesitation.”

After these first 90 minutes, participants were invited to sit in circle with the Blanket Exercise’s leaders once more. Every member of the circle shared their perspective and experiences, and the feelings that had arisen as a result.

As Elder Carolyn reminded everyone in the room: “Tears are medicine; they’re one of the seven natural ways of healing.” But amidst the tears, laughter too – Elder Carolyn’s preferred way of healing, as evidenced by her many well-timed jokes that brought glimmers of hope and joy to those gathered.

Photo: Sharing in circle at the end of the Blanket Exercise.

This message of hope was the one on which the Blanket Exercise concluded: that with education and empathy, we’re equipped to make the change for which we’re responsible. And that when we join together with kindness and love, a better world is possible.

“I approached this – my first Blanket Exercise experience – with an open mind and willingness to learn,” shares Marketing Coordinator Alejandra Mejicanos. “The exercise created a space where this learning was not just about hearing stories, but also feeling and seeing their impact in a way that was both personal and communal. The emotions that came up were real and raw, and it was a profoundly moving experience.

“It gave me a deep appreciation for the bravery of activists who stood up in the face of challenges and fear. Their courage wasn’t just about fighting for themselves, but also about paving the way for future generations. And the team was so brave to share their stories; the least we can do is listen with respect and an open heart. The Blanket Exercise is a powerful reminder of the importance of bearing witness to these stories, and I would absolutely love to take part again in the future.”

To learn more or to connect with Braving the Healing on a Blanket Exercise for your own organization, please visit https://www.bravingthehealing.com/.