JFM TAKES PART IN TURTLE ISLAND PROJECT BLANKET EXERCISE
Upon his retirement from government,
Clayton Sandy joined the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, allowing him to
hear the stories of many indigenous people
across Canada. Many high-profile people
attended these conferences, ranging from
former prime ministers and governors general
to media personalities.
At one of the conferences, Sandy had a
chance to chat with a former prime minister
of Canada who explained to him that now, as
a retired politician, he was sitting and listening
to the stories from residential school and 60’s
scoop survivors for the first time. Much to his
disappointment and frustration, he was not
aware what the schools were truly about.
This got the wheels turning in his head.
Sandy gathered up a few of his friends, and
they spent the next two years developing the
Turtle Island Project blanket exercise. The
exercise takes its participants through history,
and is broken down into three parts: the
first 150 years after contact, the resurgence
of indigenous culture, and a group-sharing
experience.
“It’s an opportunity for people to start
healing,” Sandy explains. “The reconciliation
part is on the shoulders of the Canadian public;
they must start hearing and accepting these
stories. They don’t have to do anything, just
listen, and acknowledge that it happened.”
“We want them not only to hear the history
but the story of our resurgence and the plan
for our future,” says Sandy. “We provide
examples of role models in our community
and show a path for the next generation
of our people to make it clear that we are
succeeding everywhere you look.”
A sharing circle concludes the program.
Sandy explains that the goal is to make the
space as safe as possible, where people can
share their stories, ask questions, and learn
together.
Recently the staff of the Jewish Foundation
participated in the Turtle Island Project
blanket exercise, a crucial “listening” step to
reconciliation.
When Sandy and his team entered the
Asper Jewish Community Campus to make
their presentation to the staff, they passed by the Jewish Foundation’s Endowment Book
of Life kiosk. They were thrilled and amazed
at the collection of stories there and felt an
immediate connection between our culture
and theirs.
Every person in every community has a
story. Each story is unique to its teller, though
we find common themes throughout them.
Themes of laying the foundations of family,
overcoming atrocities to create a better future
for the next generations, and themes of love
and the feelings that bond us with our kin.
The indigenous community is no different.
Their stories are full of colour and rich with
tradition. We simply need to ask to hear them.
For more information on the Turtle Island
Project or to book the ‘Experiential
Exercise’, please call 204-698-6881 or email
[email protected].