Many of us have heard of the “Term Blanket Ceremony” in respect to Aboriginal matters but, like myself, had no real idea on what this is about.

It is my personal belief that the things we need to know are presented to us at the right time. This is what happened for fifty-seven CWL members at our Interim CWL Meeting, October 23, 2021 held at Ladysmith on Vancouver Island. In fact, not only were we told about this ceremony, we actually did it!

Three Aboriginal members of Vancouver Island University led us through an exercise designed to help us understand Native challenges brought about by European contact. These challenges are very much in the news of the day.

Our facilitators put blankets on the floor and we were invited to stand on them. The many blankets represented original, pre-contact native land and we were to be the people of this land. The head facilitator represented the “government” and with different legislations and actions, we, the native people, were removed from where we stood and the blankets folded to make a new reduced surface. This represented removal of children, disease, lack of health care, residential schools plus treaties and laws. This took an hour.

When we were finished, we sat in a talking circle. Each person was to describe how they felt and what they learned. This, also, took an hour.

It soon became apparent that each participant experienced that past each in their own unique way. Our native facilitators shared their feelings of grief and loss. Some of our members told of their sorrow of not knowing this history and the impact Canada had on its native people. Some said that they had known much of this history through university in the 1960’s and about the residential school experience though more recent media accounts. A few of our members shared that they had, themselves, adopted native children from the “’60’s scoop” and loved them dearly. They gave these children care and a loving home and love them to this day. A couple of other members said they have native in-laws and grandchildren who are fully part of their families. It is my opinion that all participants saw the different views and hurts of the same government legislations and the impact these laws had and continue to have on people to this day.

I think that the blanket ceremony affected all the people in the room, educated us and allowed us to see into the hearts of all sincere participants.