As part of the 2021 Global Awareness Conference, SUNY Oswego hosted a Kairos Blanket Exercise on Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The Global Awareness Conference this year is based on Indigenous food sovereignty and features events daily Nov. 1 through Nov. 5. Every event is free and available to students, according to the SUNY Oswego website. The conference is returning to in-person after a year online and ends with a keynote speaker and a show by Haudenosaunee performers in the Sheldon Ballroom. 

The Blanket Exercise was hosted in part by Kairos, which “is a movement of Indigenous, settler and newcomer peoples committed to ecological justice and human rights,” according to the Kairos Blanket Exercise website. The presentation started with a speech from Awhenjiosta Myers, who was the moderator.

“History books rarely tell the difficult and painful truth about the invasion of Native lands,” Myers said. “We all have a responsibility to learn the truth about it if we are to begin to right the wrong done to the original peoples. These truths have gone on for far too long.”

The Blanket Exercise was originally created over 15 years ago by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition in Canada who worked directly with Native populations in the region to develop a “way of learning the history most Canadians are never taught,” according to the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON), an organization that recognizes and supports the sovereignty of the Onondaga Nation in central New York. NOON has since worked with Kairos to adapt the program to tribes in the U.S.

The exercise was a mix of history and personal experience from presenters and was meant to educate attendees about the true history of colonization and abuses against Native Americans by Europeans. Those in the Zoom call were asked to keep their cameras on because “we have been separated too much” in the past and the hope of the event is to educate and bring communities together, according to Myers.

Other members leading the presentation included Cindy Squillace, who ran the Zoom, Tony Del Plato, a historian, Samuel George, a “native voice,” Jack Manno, who played a  “European voice,” Buffy Curtis, who was the narrator and Curtis Waterman, who played the flute in between sections of the presentation.

The event was a scripted presentation that condensed “500 years of history in 60 minutes” and began with Curtis asking everyone to close their eyes and reflect on what they knew about Native Americans and their communities. After a moment, George and Del Plato gave information about the tribes of the area. 

“One of my favorite things about my culture is how we’re taught that everything on Earth has to be respected,” George said. “It is an important part of our culture [that] covers everything, and includes respecting ourselves.”

The presentation continued with information about Christopher Columbus and how his arrival in North America, or “Turtle Island” as the Native populations called it, shaped how Indiginous people were treated for the rest of history. Manno, who spoke as if he were a European from that time period, shared information about gold mining and how the Native populations were severely abused by their white suppressors and large percentages of them died due to physical wounds, exhaustion or starvation.

The next topic discussed was smallpox and other infectious diseases that decimated the Native Americans and a moment of silence was given for all the lives lost. 

“Imagine losing 90% of your community in the next two months,” Curtis said. “Picture your community with 90% less elders; Elders [who] hold knowledge [and] cannot pass that knowledge to help survive. 90% fewer people to ensure food and clean water.”

Curtis continued, saying that the trauma from all the loss travelled “down generation to generation … but so did resilience.” 

Participants in the events then went into breakout rooms to discuss their thoughts and feelings about what had been discussed so far. Everyone was encouraged to introduce themselves and share an anecdote about what they had learned. 

“It’s disturbing,” George said. “Still today hearing about it [smallpox] again, it’s hard to hear.”

Waterman, who grew up on a reservation, said there was a portion of land where everyone was forbidden to go because of the fear of catching smallpox. 

“[There is a] place on the reservation where smallpox blankets are buried and where people infected are buried,” Waterman said. “We were told as kids not to go over there because of the smallpox under the ground.”

Other topics discussed included how the creation of the U.S. and Canadian border impacted Native communities and separated families, the history of U.S. presidents and their relationship with Indigenous peoples and boarding schools for Native children.

George went to a predominantly white elementary school where “they didn’t like kids off the reservation.” He said they were not allowed to speak Seneca language or would “get beat” by the teachers. 

“They said I was a ‘bad guy,’” George said. “I [still] don’t know what that means.”

The exercise also had information about the history of the Trail of Tears and other forced removal of Indigenous tribes from their land. According to the presenters, 46,000 people were removed from 25 million acres of land east of the Mississippi River.

At the end of the presentation, attendees went back into break out sessions to discuss their overall experience and feelings about the information. Myers said she hopes everyone who participated would spread what they learned to others.

“We encourage you to set up a time to continue these conversations with colleagues, friends and family,” Myers said. “It is the responsibility of those who have benefited from [colonization] to face this history [and] acknowledge the best contributions of our Indiginous neighbors.”

The end to this year’s Global Awareness Conference is an address by Mariaelena Huambachado on Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sheldon Ballroom and will be followed by a Haudenosaunee sing and dance performance. 

Image via Laker Life