An Interview with a Canadian Comedy Icon

BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

I recently got to sit down (on the phone) with the star and creator of Corner Gas, Canadian comedian Brent Butt, to ask him a few questions before he comes on down to Camrose for his stand-up show March 19.

Butt is originally from Saskatchewan and, for those who may not know, he based his hit TV show on a fictional farming town in Saskatchewan, named Dog River. The show skyrocketed to the number one show in Canada and the United States, averaging one million views per episode, and still remains in the top 10 of the Greatest Canadian Television shows in history.

The first question I wanted answered was where Butt got his start to comedy.

“I started in comedy pretty [the] standard route, really. I started on an amateur night at a comedy club back in 1988. The comedy club [was] in Saskatoon and just kind of, you know, [I] started going there every week doing amateur night … it was going well and so then they invited me to do some spots on the weekend. [T]hen I got invited to do some shows out of town. Next thing you know, I was getting paid to be a working stand-up comedian. Although … technically the first time I did stand-up, I did it twice in high school like a variety night drama night kind of thing. And that went well, it encouraged me enough to take the next step and that was to try it at a club for strangers that I didn’t know.”

I then asked Butt how it was like going from rural Saskatchewan to the big screen.

“It was a very gradual build. I went from Tisdale, Saskatchewan to Calgary, Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Los Angeles for about six months. I’ve been living in Vancouver now for 25 years. So, for me it was a gradual step-by-step. When the opportunity came along to do Corner Gas, I had done an hour-long special on Comedy Now on The Comedy Network and I got nominated for a Gemini Award for best comedy performance and I think that kind of put me on the radar of the network to see if I had any TV show ideas.”

With that, I was curious as to how his recent project of turning the live-action Corner Gas series into an animated series.

“The response to season one was amazing; the biggest debut in Comedy Network history and highest rated show on the Comedy Network. So, the response from the people is great. None of us knew if it would be able to translate or if people would want to see it because you’re dealing with a product that people know, and in a lot of cases, people know it and love it. People have really strong feelings about Corner Gas[and] there’s always a risk that people are not going to want the new incarnation of it.”

Then I asked Butt if he had any other new and exciting projects he’d been working on recently, and where he gets his inspiration.

“Just writing scripts and writing a feature film right now that I want to try and get produced. Inspiration [is] all over the place that could really come from anywhere. You know, just as a stand-up you kind of train yourself; your eyes and ears pick up things that could become bits in your act. I always used to carry little pad and paper around with me. I use my phone more now to record thoughts and ideas, but that’s just kind of you know, you go throughout your day, you see something that twigs a thought or sometimes you just have a thought out of the blue. Sometimes you’re working on one thing and it triggers a whole different idea. You just kind of make note of those thoughts and then you have to find time to sit down and actually try and flush them out. And then if it’s stand-up material,  I tend to go down to a club somewhere, and just go up on stage unannounced and see if I can work out five or seven minutes of new material.”

I was curious as to where Canadian comedies are headed or if it has changed much since Butt started in the industry.  

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot more opportunities to create television now in the industry. You know, when I first started out, it was it was difficult to get any network executive interested in any Canadian project because it’s just, you know, it’s an expensive endeavor. It’s much easier and cheaper to buy American programs that are already made but they all have a mandate: they have to do some Canadian programming, thankfully. When I first started out, it was really hard to get the network’s attention, any network – they just weren’t interested. But I [talked to] Mark McKinney from the Kids in the Hall. He said Canadian television will always be divided between pre-Corner Gas and post-Corner Gas because Corner Gas is the number one comedy on TV, U.S. or Canadian. We grew higher than any of the U.S. shows so that kind of opened eyes from TV executives and the notion was, ‘Oh, maybe we can have homegrown shows that actually do well and draw an audience.’ It seems like there are a lot more executives [who] are much more open to hearing Canadian pitches and producing Canadian shows.”

Finally, I talked to Butt about his upcoming trip to Camrose to perform in the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre and what we can expect from that.

“Expect a balding guy talking. Yeah, I mean, it’s just me doing stand-up. One of the things that I love about stand-up is when I’m waiting in the wings ready to go on stage and you know, I kind of know the first couple of bits that I’m going to do, but from that point on it’s a feeling out process and you start adjusting your material based on how the crowd is responding to it. It changes show to show because I don’t always know what bits I’m going to do in what order and that makes it very fun for me.”

Butt will be in Camrose to perform a stand-up comedy show at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre March 19. Tickets are $48.50 and can be purchased from the Lougheed Performing Arts Centre at their Box Office or online at http://www.camroselive.ca.

 

ASO Happenings in March and New Clubs!

BY: ISABELLA BOURQUE

February in the Aboriginal Student’s Office is full of fun events! Our next community meal and paint night is on Feb. 20 from 5 – 8 p.m. Come out to our monthly drum circle, led by Michael Fraser, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Moccasin Making Workshop is back and it will be held on Wednesdays in March! Contact Megan at mcaldwel@ulaberta.ca  in the ASO if you want to participate. Dream catcher making will also be happening March 30 from 1 – 4 p.m. in the Rashmi Bale Learning Commons, so sign up by sending an email to the ASO at augustana.aso@ualberta.ca!

One of the new clubs on campus is the Indigenous Club, which aims to foster Indigenous learnings and activities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at Augustana andanyone is welcome to join the club! They will be meeting for the first time Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the Wahkohtowin Lodge to discuss further meeting times and what club members would like to have happen at club meetings. If you would like to join or have any questions, you can email the.indigenous.club@gmail.com or stop by on Tuesday to have your say about the kinds of activities you’d like to see happen. So far, the club is thinking of having activities such as bannock making, sewing, beading, tea time, and language learning.

The other new club I wanted to mention is the East Asia Club, which aims to help international students at Augustana feel more at home by having opportunities for them to meet and hang out with other students to share their cultures. The club will be holding meetings once a month and the next meeting will be Tuesday, March 19 at 6 p.m. in F-315, which will also serve as a bonding night for members. The president of the club, Hyun-Joo Lim, informed me they will be eating Chinese sweet rice balls, to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival, and they will be watching a Korean TV show, Running Man. Everyone is welcome to join the club!

Clubs are a great way to unwind once a week or once a month with a group of people who share the same interests as you and  to partake in activities that are fun and non school related. They are an awesome opportunity to make friends around campus with who you might not normally see in class, or even be in the same year. I really encourage students who have the free time to join at least one club and commit to going to their meetings as much as possible. Being active in the school environment will really help your university career be rounded and your presence in extra-curricular activities, such as clubs, will help make your experience here at Augustana pleasant and dynamic (and not all about the academics side of things)!

Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation Happening Tonight and ASO has New Indigenous Club

BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

The ASO is always hosting fun, exciting, and educational activities around campus available for everyone to participate in. Another evening of the Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation Education session is TONIGHT at 6:00 p.m. in the Mayer Community Hall at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre.

 In addition to the workshops, our Knowledge Keeper Bruce Cutknife will be telling winter stories in the Wahkohtowin Lodge on Feb. 5 at 6:00 p.m. The following evening there will be a drum circle on Feb. 6at 7:30 p.m. and Bannock Taco Day on Feb. 7 in celebration for International week! (Psst… if you have never tried bannock tacos, I wholeheartedly encourage you to stop by the cafeteria because they *might* just change your world.)

Things to look out for later this semester are the Moccasin Making Workshop and the Dream Catcher Making Workshop (I highly recommend both!). The moccasin making workshop will be held on the first three Wednesdays in March: 13, 20,  and 27 in the ASO and the cost to register is $175 per person, which includes all materials you will need as well as 9 hours of instruction from Elder Myrna Yellowbird. Registration deadline for moccasin making is March 1!

Dream catcher making will be on March 30, and it is free for students to participate.

Pop-up advising sessions are continuing to happen every Tuesday from 1 – 2 p.m. in the ASO (so come by and hassle Erika about your classes and grad requirements (; …). The pop-up academic success sessions also happen every Thursday from 1 – 2 p.m. Talk to Sarah about study habits, time (and stress) management, or any other questions you may have!

One of the most exciting things to happen here at Augustana is now Indigenous students can smudge in the ASO any time they wish without notice! This pilot project is to help balance the needs of our Indigenous students by having access to smudging as they please within their community space on campus in the ASO.

On Jan. 30, the Augustana Club Fair represented all of the clubs here on campus, including, for the first time, The Indigenous Club! The Indigenous Club is a brand-new club here at Augustana that fosters Indigenous learnings and activities for all Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty. The club will be hosting meetings and events once a month that focus on topics such as beading, sewing, bannock-making, and language-learning. If you are interested in joining or attending the events, be sure to get in contact with president Emily Peterson or vice president Aurora Tupechka. During the club fair, they enticed passers-by to do some Metis finger weaving.

The evening of Jan. 30, we had our monthly community meal of taco-in-a-bag-on-a-plate with Elder Myrna Yellowbird, followed by a beading session. These evenings are my favourite because we all feast while having conversations around the tables. It really enforces a sense of community and support!

Drum Circles and Beading are a Great Way to Beat Stress and Build Community

beading.jpg

BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

The Aboriginal Students’ Office (ASO) held their monthly drum circle Nov. 22 which was led by Michael Fraser of Cold Lake First Nation. The participants watched a film about the Blackfoot Sundance and honouring culture. We then played a few songs and drummed our end of term stresses away (temporarily, at least).
I asked Abby Lee, a frequent drummer who attends ASO drum circle, on why she likes to drum.
“It’s my meditation … I don’t know, it calms me,” she said, adding that her favourite song is The Charging Buffalo Song and “is [her] power song.” (BTW – the Charging Buffalo song is killer! Super intense and fun to do).
A lot of the students who participate in our drum circle got to make their own drums from the drum making workshop that the ASO puts on every year (also led by Fraser). For many of our students, in addition to connecting with culture, drumming is a chance to get away from the stress of classes. Believe it or not, pounding on our drums and singing along is very soothing and empowering.
On Nov. 27, the ASO held a beading session in the forum for Wellness Week. It was a lot of people’s first time beading – which is super exciting!
Students at this session made earrings, key chains, and bracelets. Elder Myrna also shared stories and teachings while showing newcomers how to bead.
We had a few newcomers this beading session, like Alex Ho. I asked Ho how his first beading experience was and he replied by saying, “It was such an amazing experience! It was really therapeutic and helped with my mental health.”
When asked if he would continue beading or participating in other ASO events, he assured me that he will indeed continue on his beading endeavors and is very excited to participate in other creative Indigenous activities.
Following the beading session, we had our ASO community meal and another beading activity for the Indigenous students in the ASO (if you can’t tell, we love beading). Tacos in a bag was our community meal (…mmm) and we learned to bead popsockets!
Aurora Tupechka, also a first time beader, set out on the adventurous task of beading a popsocket for her phone as her very first project. Tupechka also said that her first time beading was, “extremely therapeutic” and she said, “I enjoyed that we could do it together – it was a nice community activity. It made us come together in the ASO.” Moral of the story: drumming and beading are really good stress relievers!
We were also joined by alumni, Gavin Wilkes, who shared with us what he is doing now that he has graduated. It was really nice to catch up with him! It is always so exciting when former students visit (Psst. It was Wilkes’s first time beading too!).

Métis Week Celebrations Honour Traditions, Ancestry

By ISABELLA BOURQUE 

Métis week started off with a performance from the Edmonton Métis Cultural Dancers and a Workshop in Building Capacity for Reconciliation on Nov. 14 in the Cargill Theatre in the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre. The dance group consists of Lyle Donald and his family from Edmonton.

They performed various Métis dances such as: The Wheel of Four, The Métis Sash dance, Drops of Brandy dance, The Broom dance, and The Red River Jig. The dancers wore traditional ribbon shirts and the women wore long and fluffy skirts.

Donald emceed the performance and before each dance began, he told us the origin of how the dance came about, and what they represented. Many of the dances borrow aspects from European dances or are an amalgamation of different cultural dances stemming from Europe.

He talked about how Métis people are starting to lose their culture from being so urbanized. Because Métis isn’t just a culture comprised of one type of heritage, it is made up of French, Irish, Scottish, and First Nations, there is a fear of losing what it really means to be Métis. Donald expressed that it is so important for Métis people to hold on to their heritage, and the traditions that come with it, for fear of losing knowledge and culture in such a modern society.

Métis dances (and any and all traditional practices of First Nations groups) were banned by the government in 1895 up until 1951 to aid them in assimilating Indigenous peoples into being more European, which was part of the government’s mandate. Donald is currently writing a book about Métis dancing and getting the communities to learn and retain their traditional dances, so they won’t lose them again.

After we watched the dancers, we got to try some jigging ourselves! It had been years since I jigged so I took part in some of the dancing and learned some new steps. After the family taught us how to do some basic steps, we were out of breath and ready to get on to the workshop portion. In groups, the workshop participants discussed various questions and topics around things like monuments, arts and performance in relation to reconciliation and Indigenous practices.

The lunch and learn on Nov. 15 starred a conversation by Dr. Kisha Supernant about Métis archeology and the tracing of our Metis ancestors. The participants of the lunch and learn got to have some fabulous hamburger soup and bannock while they listened to Dr. Supernant’s work on the archeological analysis of her past family members in areas like Alberta and Saskatchewan. The talk was interesting because with her research, Dr. Supernant was able to see where families had lived, how many cabins could have been in the area, and what kind of life the Métis people lived so long ago. She even showed us some preserved beading that her and her graduate student had found upon digging at a site. She told us that normally, they would find thousands of loose beads around the digging sites of the former Métis homes, but that it was a one in a million chance that they found an actual pattern of a partially beaded flower amongst the ruins.

Finally, the Aboriginal Students’ Office had a table set up for Métis crafts and bannock on Friday, Nov. 16 to close out Métis week. The crafts were finger-weaving your own keychain sash and making a mini Métis flag. And then, of course, eating bannock, mmm.  

Indigenous Health and the Racist Healthcare System

metis week.png

BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

On Oct. 22, the Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation held the second workshop of the school year. The night was focused on Indigenous Healthcare and the secretive (and maybe not so secretive) ways in which healthcare institutions around the country have been degrading and exploiting Indigenous peoples for decades (and still do today).

The speaking panel of the night consisted of: Elder Clifford Cardinal (Whitefish-Goodfish Lake), Gary Geddes (Author Medic`ine Unbundled), Tibetha Kemble (Director, Indigenous Health Initiatives U of A), Dr. Cara Bablitz (MD, Indigenous Wellness Clinic), and Natasha Gougeon (RN, Indigenous Wellness Clinic). Cardinal and Geddes talked about the horrific realities that many Indigenous peoples have faced with Indian hospitals that were set up to segregate Indigenous Peoples from other Canadians for health care.

Indigenous people have been forced against their will to be used for top-secret experimentations for years on end. Some, like Mary Theresa Morris, who was held captive in a hospital for 17 years of experimentation (after just simply walking into the hospital, not being unusually unhealthy in any way), have stories that need to be told. Eugenics (sterilization without consent) was also practiced on many patients.

Kemble, Bablitz, and Gougeon talked about the modern side of healthcare. Bablitz and Gougeon expressed their work with the Indigenous Wellness Clinic, located in Edmonton, which is set up for Indigenous peoples. The Clinic blends western and Indigenous health practice, and uses healing methodologies within the medicine wheel (spiritual health, mental health, physical health, emotional health). Not only do they treat Indigenous peoples here, they also advocate for patients who have to seek further medical attention outside the Clinic. The Indigenous Wellness Clinic is also used as a space where people can come to hang out for the day; it is a place for some to seek shelter and a hot meal on cold days. The Clinic is focused on providing Indigenous peoples with positive experiences in healthcare as opposed to the mistreatment they have experienced in the past, as well as today, in non-Indigenous centres.

Kemble talked about her role in educating medical doctors about how to care for Indigenous patients from an understanding of their own cultures. She has done work in responding to the TRC in ways to help ensure that there are more Indigenous health professionals, and that all practitioners (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) work with the knowledge of the past so as to not repeat these horrible things in the future. One way they are doing this is by having mandatory classes on Indigenous history and current issues for all students in the faculty of medicine and dentistry at the University of Alberta.    

Upcoming events for Métis Week:

Nov. 14 – Edmonton Métis Dancers will be performing at 6:00 p.m. in the Cargill Theatre in the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre. Free public performance – everyone welcome!

Nov. 15 – Lunch and Learn with Dr. Kisha Supernant “Reconciling the Past for the Future: Unsettling Métis as Mixed in the Archeological Record”. If students register with the Alumni Office, you will get a free lunch of hamburger soup and bannock!

  • Hamburger soup and bannock for lunch in the Cafeteria

Nov. 16 – Bannock and Jam in the Forum and Métis Crafts from 11:30 – 1 p.m.

 

Indigenous Courses a Step Towards Understanding

By ISABELLA BOURQUE 

There are so many misconceptions when it comes to Indigenous people and our heritage. Having the advantage of taking Indigenous courses here at Augustana is inherent to understanding a lot of our history, as well as the realities we face today. Taking part in Indigenous classes helps to spread awareness about our peoples that, though it is unfortunate, many Canadian citizens just aren’t aware of. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard ignorant assumptions about First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples – that we still live in igloos, that we don’t have electricity in our communities, or that TV and wifi are totally unheard of where we come from. You wouldn’t believe how many times my friends and I have heard, “So, how native are you?” …I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around asking people of European descent, “So, just how Irish are you?” as if a percentage makes you any less apart of the culture you identify with. You would be surprised that we, Indigenous people of all skin tones and hair colours, sometimes get asked, “So… what do the ‘real’ native people think of you? … because you’re not, like, full Indian,” (when referring to us ‘light-skinned’ or Metis Indigenous people) – well, Sharon, you’re only part Scottish so like, what do ‘real’ Scottish people think of you? We are all people, aren’t we? And I don’t mean to ruffle any feathers or insult anyone, but before you ask us about how the colour of our skin or what percentage ‘native’ we are, consider asking the question to yourself and see how that feels.

Whether you are Indigenous or not, consider that these Indigenous Studies classes are something you should subscribe to. Indigenous Studies courses are a great way to gain experiential knowledge and hands-on learning outside of the classroom (hint – if you need a break from primarily lecture based classes, you should check out an IND course)! A class like Erin Sutherland’s AUIND 240, that teaches you how to tan a hide and is based around kitchen-table theory (pssst – that means you eat a lot of food in the class), really helps to build a sense of community while learning actual things about Indigenous groups. Who wouldn’t want an interactive learning space? It’s only the best thing ever and makes class actually fun to go to! Plus, if you really don’t know anything about Canada’s Indigenous people or if you want to know more about the history of Canada (because Indigenous people are the history of Canada, *cough cough*) these classes are a safe and welcoming space to integrate yourself into a world of knowledge. If you’re weary and unsure, start with an introductory level course like AUIND 101/201! Or, if you want to be educated about what’s really going on with our peoples, and you maybe want to help refute some common misconceptions like “Native people get all their schooling paid for, how lucky is that?” or “I heard Metis is now the same as like, full status Indians so they’re all good now,” then please, get yourself to an AUIND class, educate yourself, and then help to educate others! Take it upon yourself to also help support the Indigenous students around you, ask questions, and don’t be shy about participating in some of the workshops available to you, whether that be signing up to take part in the Workshops in Building Capacity for Truth and Reconciliation or learning how to make moccasins! The moral of this story: Ignorance is not bliss. We are the future and Indigenous education for everyone will help us make the future a better place to be.

List of AUIND courses offered at Augustana:

  • AUIND 101/201 – Introduction to Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 240 – Introduction to Indigenous Cultural Production
  • AUIND 300/400 – Selected Topics in Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 367/467 – The Fur Trade
  • AUIND 370/470 – Oral History
  • AUIND 390/490 – Directed Studies in Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 399/499 – Theories in Indigenous Studies

*Note that there are other courses outside of Indigenous Studies (AUIND) that incorporate Indigenous material, however only AUIND courses are included here to give you a general idea of the solely Indigenous based classes that are offered.

The Importance of Taking Indigenous Courses

BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

There are so many misconceptions when it comes to Indigenous people and our heritage. Having the advantage of taking Indigenous courses here at Augustana is inherent to understanding a lot of our history, as well as the realities we face today. Taking part in Indigenous classes helps to spread awareness about our peoples that, though it is unfortunate, many Canadian citizens just aren’t aware of.

You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard ignorant assumptions about First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples: that we still live in igloos, that we don’t have electricity in our communities, or that TV and wifi are totally unheard of where we come from. You wouldn’t believe how many times my friends and I have heard, “So, how native are you?” …I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around asking people of European descent, “So, just how Irish are you?” as if a percentage makes you any less apart of the culture you identify with.

You would be surprised that we, Indigenous people of all skin tones and hair colours, sometimes get asked, “So…what do the ‘real’ native people think of you? Because you’re not, like, full Indian,” (when referring to us ‘light-skinned’ or Métis Indigenous people) – well, Sharon, you’re only part Scottish so, like, what do ‘real’ Scottish people think of you? We are all people, aren’t we? And I don’t mean to ruffle any feathers or insult anyone, but before you ask us about how the colour of our skin or what percentage ‘native’ we are, consider asking the question to yourself and see how that feels.

Whether you are Indigenous or not, consider that these Indigenous Studies classes are something you should subscribe to. Indigenous Studies courses are a great way to gain experiential knowledge and hands-on learning outside of the classroom (hint – if you need a break from primarily lecture based classes, you should check out an IND course)!

A class like Erin Sutherland’s AUIND 240, that teaches you how to tan a hide and is based around kitchen-table theory (pssst – that means you eat a lot of food in the class), really helps to build a sense of community while learning actual things about Indigenous groups. Who wouldn’t want an interactive learning space? It’s only the best thing ever and makes class actually fun to go to! Plus, if you really don’t know anything about Canada’s Indigenous people or if you want to know more about the history of Canada (because Indigenous people are the history of Canada, *cough cough*) these classes are a safe and welcoming space to integrate yourself into a world of knowledge.

If you’re weary and unsure, start with an introductory level course like AUIND 101/201! Or, if you want to be educated about what’s really going on with our peoples, and you maybe want to help refute some common misconceptions like, “Native people get all their schooling paid for, how lucky is that?” or, “I heard Métis is now the same as like, full status Indians so they’re all good now,” then please, get yourself to an AUIND class, educate yourself, and then help to educate others! Take it upon yourself to also help support the Indigenous students around you, ask questions, and don’t be shy about participating in some of the workshops available to you, whether that be signing up to take part in the Workshops in Building Capacity for Truth and Reconciliation or learning how to make moccasins! The moral of this story: Ignorance is not bliss. We are the future and Indigenous education for everyone will help us make the future a better place to be.

List of AUIND courses offered at Augustana:

  • AUIND 101/201 – Introduction to Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 240 – Introduction to Indigenous Cultural Production
  • AUIND 300/400 – Selected Topics in Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 367/467 – The Fur Trade
  • AUIND 370/470 – Oral History
  • AUIND 390/490 – Directed Studies in Indigenous Studies
  • AUIND 399/499 – Theories in Indigenous Studies

*Note that there are other courses outside of Indigenous Studies (AUIND) that incorporate Indigenous material, however I included only AUIND courses here to give you a general idea of the solely Indigenous based classes that are offered.

Storyteller Café

The Storyteller Café is happening in partnership with the seventh annual Spirit of the Land conference and is being co-hosted by the Chester Ronning Centre and the Augustana Medium. The Café is an opportunity to share stories around a circle and is a way to build community amongst everyone. The Storyteller Café will be happening on Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Wahkohtowin Lodge and is welcome to everyone – students, faculty, and community members. For more information, check out spiritoftheland.ca.

 

September’s Workshop for Reconciliation: Residential Schools

By ISABELLA BOURQUE 

The Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation focus on educating the public about Indigenous history and what life was like for many people when colonization started. In participating in these workshops, we recognize the truths that happened to Indigenous peoples because of colonization, as well as the outcomes from the many horrific experiences they faced. In particular, on Sept 27th, we focused on residential schools and the realities for the many families who went through it.

For this first workshop, we started with the KAIROS Blanket Exercise. Here, all of the participants stood on various blankets throughout the room to represent Turtle Island, the world where Indigenous peoples from all over lived before colonization. In the exercise, we went through a timeline of traumatic events from the beginning of colonization onward. As the exercise went on, the blankets were slowly taken away to represent the land that was being stolen from Indigenous people, so much so that by the end of it, many of us were squished right up to one another from the lack of land there was to “live” on. Throughout this exercise we were also given scrolls of documents from these events to read aloud, as well as other props like tiny felt blankets and necklaces with black hearts. These props represented those who had been taken from their families or died at residential schools, among other circumstances. The physical act of taking part in this exercise made these events so real and in your face that you couldn’t ignore it, even if you wanted to.

I think this is a big thing for people who don’t want to believe in our history, or who choose to look past it and ignore it. If you are face-to-face with real, raw facts for 3 hours and you fully participate in the workshop, you  have no choice but to confront your lack of knowledge and accept the truth. The facilitators of this workshop are a family of 3 generations, including an Elder who is a survivor of residential school. We got to hear stories of real people, including some very young children who had to go through devastating things, via letters they had actually written about their experiences. The whole evening was very emotional for the participants and opened many people’s eyes to a big part of Canada’s history.

After the workshop, many of the participants felt frustrated and angry with this new knowledge. They were heartbroken that their government would do such terrible things. There were many who were stunned that, in those 3 hours, they learned more about Indigenous history and residential schools than they had ever learned in their whole lives. Several participants expressed that their own schools never taught them much, if anything at all, about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples. Many were sad and felt sympathy for the families who had to go through such trauma. And most were filled with appreciation and hope that, moving forward and with more education to come, there would be healing for Indigenous peoples and a push forward in reconciliation with hope for future generations to take back their identity and culture, never to be without it again.