Bearing Witness Through the “ Witness Blanket ”
Je me sens vraiment fière que l ’ Université de Regina a donné aux étudiantes et aux publiques l ’ occasion de voir cette œuvre si importante à notre identité canadienne , peu importe nos relations avec les écoles résidentielles .
Photo Credit : Shuana Niessen
I feel very proud that the University of Regina provided its students and the public the opportunity to experience this work of art that is so important to our Canadian identity , no matter our relation to residential schools .
~ Student Carly Scherr , Bac program
Students , faculty , and staff bore witness to the history and narratives of the residential school era at the “ Witness Blanket ” installation at the University of Regina . This artwork honours the lives of Aboriginal residential school survivors , telling a lost and untold history , and moving survivors and witnesses towards healing and reconciliation . The following are excerpts from students ’ reflections .
Michael Schienbein ( Year 3 , an extraction from Michael ' s narrative inquiry ) recounts his Witness Blanket Project journey : “ Finally , there are the Pieces of History themselves : each fragment , a silent witness to some part of this story . Individually , they are paragraphs of a disappearing narrative . Together they are strong , collectively able to recount for future generations the true story of loss , strength , reconciliation and pride .” ~ Pieces of History , www . witnessblanket . ca
I knew that the Witness Blanket was a representation of the pain and suffering of residential schools , but I did not know what each piece of history truly meant . The story behind those pieces of history was left to my own assumptions and misconceptions and the truth behind the history was only based on what I believed to be true . In reality , the same can be said about the true history of our land . Many of us grow up believing that the history of our land begins with European settlement . However , the true history goes far beyond European settlement and the stories of what happened to the occupants of this land deserve to be told . As a future educator , knowing that our land ' s true history is often a misconception began to bother me . I started to develop a passion not only for educating my future students about our history , but also for truly beginning to understand it for myself . It was this personal discomfort and newly found passion that led to the inspiration for my Witness Blanket Project journey , a journey dedicated to educating my future students to become their own pieces of history that represent our land ' s true story .
. . . Through the stories of others , I was determined to create my own story . I decided to create a personal narrative inquiry about why it is important to teach about treaties and residential schools , two key components to the history of our land .
By organizing personal interviews and interactive activities I was able to generate narratives from three different and unique perspectives . [ Michael interviewed Joseph Naytowhow , Dr . Sean Lessard , and Grade 8 students from his pre-internship at Douglas Park Elementary School .] These narratives allowed me to realize the importance of teaching about treaties and residential schools in the most appropriate and meaningful way . It is through these narratives that I was able to construct my own narrative and work towards properly educating about the true history of our land . I soon realized that before I can educate others , I must truly begin to educate myself .
From Joseph Naytowhow , I learned : “ In order to meaningfully teach about residential schools , we must start slowly and build towards being able to meaningfully discuss them . As educators , we cannot force fear upon our students and scare them away from discussing the impacts of residential schools ," and I learned that “ in order to educate others , we must first begin to educate ourselves .”
From Dr . Sean Lessard , I learned the importance of " teaching softly through positive relationships . In creating those safe spaces for our students , continued on page 5
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