“Intense, interactive” Kairos blanket exercise coming to Caledon Public Library

Workshop will demonstrate relationship between Indigenous, non-Indigenous people

By Zachary Roman

Caledon residents have a chance to build understanding and empathy this weekend.

On Saturday, March 25, the Caledon Public Library (CPL) will host a virtual Kairos Blanket Exercise (KBE) at 1 p.m.

According to the CPL, it's going to be an “intense, interactive virtual three-hour workshop that demonstrates the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”

The KBE is based on Indigenous methodologies, and its goal is to build understanding about the shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization, and resistance.

According to the CPL, participants in the KBE will be actively involved as they will have to “step” onto blankets that represent the land, and into the role of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. The CPL said that by engaging participants on an emotional and intellectual level, the KBE educates and increases empathy.

Amandip Dhami, Information Services Coordinator at the CPL, helped to organize the KBE. She found out about the exercise after she heard it was being done at other libraries and then began to organize one in Caledon. 

“I learned about the blanket exercise and I knew that it was a very interactive way to learn about the history of Indigenous people in Canada,” said Dhami. “There is an onus on everybody that signs up to participate in this workshop for it to be successful. You can't really just sit and have a backseat to the program… you have to be there and be aware of (what you're) learning.”

Dhami explained the facilitator of the KBE will be Marian Paul, a Métis woman from Manitoba.

Those interested in participating in the KBE can sign up online on the CPL's website, caledon.library.on.ca.

The KBE was made possible thanks to a grant from the Brampton Caledon Community Foundation.