The Alaska Blanket Exercise is a traveling history lesson designed to show how Alaska Native sovereignty has changed over time. It came to Unalaska Aug. 2, encouraging participants to walk through the history of colonization from the Russian fur trade to the modern day.
The Unalaska event was part of an initiative between the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association which are based in Anchorage.
The exercise starts with blankets on the floor in the middle of a room, representing Native lands pre-colonization. Participants walk across the blankets and explore, taking stock of how much space is available.
Alice Michaelson is the Blanket Exercise coordinator for the health consortium and helped facilitate Unalaska’s event. She said that although she grew up in Alaska, this history is new for her. She said the Blanket Exercise is a powerful experience that’s different for everybody.
“It just makes me curious, wanting to learn more about the history and talking to other people about it,” she said. “This exercise is a really great way to bring people together, whether they have that personal history in their family, or are learning about it for the first time.”
Photos of natural resources, landscapes, and cultural items dot the blankets, which participants are encouraged to pick up and reflect on, trade with others, and eventually turn over to facilitators as history moves forward. With the passage of time, facilitators fold some blankets inward and remove others entirely, symbolizing land loss and the introduction of alcohol, boarding schools, and discriminatory legislation. Participants read quotes from Alaska Native people about their lives and cultural practices.
As time passes, some of the blankets are unfolded and participants who moved off of them are invited back. With the reclamation of Native lands and rights, the space expands.
Michaelson is working to develop a version of the exercise for kids. She said the project is still in the pilot phase, with a few tribes and schools participating.
The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association is putting together a version of the Blanket Exercise focused on Unangax̂ life. Michaelson said it’s part of an effort to bring more localized versions of the exercise to different parts of the state.
“We would really love to have a region-specific history for all parts of Alaska when we do this exercise,” Michaelson said. “A couple years ago, Southeast Alaska actually developed their own history timeline with the Tlingit and Haida.”
The Alaska Blanket Exercise is expected to return to Unalaska, but organizers aren’t sure when yet.
