Building ‘Even Better Relations’ with First Nations Communities in Canada

Last year, Mike Hogeterp conducted the Blanket Exercise -- in which the history between Indigenous peoples and European settlers in North America is played out -- for parents and students at Northumberland Christian School in Cobourg, Ont.

School officials had asked Hogeterp, director of the Christian Reformed Church’s Centre for Public Dialogue, to offer the exercise as part of the school’s three-year plan to build even better relations between their school community and the nearby Alderville First Nation.

“In the debriefing we had after the exercise, people said this served in a powerful way to help them understand the history of relations between people and got them talking about what they could do next,” said Hogeterp.

Hogeterp suggested they talk more and discuss ways they could better understand the complicated and often painful history.

They took him up on his suggestion, and one of the results was to have Northumberland students read the children’s book The Honour Drum by Cheryl Bear and Tim Huff.

The book, released in Sept. 2016, uses illustrations and verse to offer insights, history, and questions to challenge racial stereotypes for readers of all ages.

After reading the book, three senior high students -- two of whom are Indigenous and the other of whom is of European background -- were inspired to write a musical of the same name to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada and the 180th anniversary of the Anishinabe Alderville First Nation community, which is not far from the school.

In a story about this musical, Carla Alblas, a journalist for the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools, quoted the school principal Ginette Mack describing the relationship the “two communities have enjoyed . . . for almost 20 years.”

Over that time, said the principal, many students from Alderville have attended Northumberland Christian. Given their plan to enhance the friendship and understanding between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, they decided to hold the musical.

Written as a series of stories depicting the history of Canada as well as that of Indigenous peoples, the play invited the audience “to join the actors on a journey of listening to the voices of Canada’s past and present -- stories of beauty and celebration and of heartbreak and suffering.”

Alblas’s story also mentions how the Blanket Exercise helped teach parents and students the value of building relationships through listening and sharing their stories.

“It is not unusual to hear that the Blanket Exercise starts people on a journey of many, many steps -- and that especially happens for those of us who are members of the CRC,” said Hogeterp.

“We are pretty cerebral, but the exercise is physical and visceral and gets us learning history in a way that brings it home. It is very powerful in how it can change the heart.”

The Blanket Exercise involves participants standing barefoot or in stockinged feet on blankets arranged on the floor and role playing the parts of Indigenous peoples and European settlers  as others read from a script.

The goal is for participants to gain some insight into history as they move around the blankets and then are asked to step off at particular points in the story.

Narrators speak about various edicts and documents that came out “with the intention of giving to Spain, England, and Portugal the right to discover and to conquer and convert the pagans to Christianity.” They also talk about epidemics that broke out among native peoples when they came into contact with settlers who themselves had built up immunities to such diseases as smallpox.

Narrators, such as Hogeterp, also talk about the forced removal of native peoples from their ancestral lands and of the creation of church-run boarding schools, which native children were required to attend and which forced them to give up their traditional ways.

After the exercise, people gather in a circle to talk about what they have just experienced.

“Having led the Blanket Exercise, I can honestly say that every part in that script is someone's real life story,” said Shannon Perez, who works for the CRC’s Aboriginal Ministries in Canada.

“There is power in sharing a story that happens in a Blanket Exercise that we don’t have room to share in our regularly scheduled lives. That in itself connects people together. I hope it is in this context and understanding that the Spirit speaks to people.”

Helping to lead Blanket Exercises is only one of the things Hogeterp does in his role as director of the Centre for Public Dialogue, a position he has held for 15 years.

He also works closely with members of the Canadian Parliament on such issues as immigration policy, end of life issues, human trafficking, food security, fair housing, climate change, and seeking peace. Meanwhile, he helps CRC members in Canada become more familiar with these issues and learn ways in which they can advocate for change.

Usually the work of bringing about change is slow, and the results can sometimes seem minimal. But Hogeterp says there are times, such as when the high school students put on the recent musical, when he can see the impact his office can have.

“Given their long-running relationship with folks at Alderville, I encouraged the people I met with to deepen the relationship and learn the stories. Ours was a small part there -- but it’s good to know that we provide the odd pin prick of light along the journey!”