Peace and Reconciliation Centre

UFV/Peace and Reconciliation Centre/Projects & Collaborations/Beyond Blankets/Before Beyond Blankets

Before Beyond Blankets

Whether you're participating in Beyond Blankets or organizing a session for your group, taking a few moments to understand the format and expectations of the exercise will help create a meaningful experience. 

Beyond Blankets is an interactive educational experience grounded in Stó:lō history, relationships to land, and local perspectives. Participants engage through movement, storytelling, role-play, and guided discussion while exploring difficult histories alongside stories of resilience and resurgence. 

This page outlines what to expect, how to prepare, and important considerations before participating or hosting a session. 

What to Expect?

  • Duration: Approximately 2–2.5 hours, with 1 hour required before the session for setup and 30 minutes afterward for teardown.

  • Facilitation: Sessions are facilitated by two trained PARC facilitators (often UFV student researchers) who guide participants through the exercise and accompanying discussion.

  • Participation: Participants are asked to move throughout the space, stand on blankets representing Stó:lō history, read dialogue cards aloud, and actively engage with the learning experience. Accommodations can be made for participants who require them.

  • Materials: PARC provides all materials required for the exercise. Booking organizations are responsible for providing the venue, participant seating, two tables, and ensuring that any requested onsite technology is operational. Participants are encouraged to bring socks. 

  • Optional PowerPoint: An optional PowerPoint presentation can accompany the exercise to provide additional visual context. If requested, the booking organization is responsible for supplying and setting up the required technology.

  • Outcomes: Participants leave with a deeper understanding of Stó:lō history, relationships to land, the ongoing impacts of colonialism, and opportunities to continue learning and contributing to reconciliation.

  •  Invoicing: Invoices are issued by UFV Finance following the date of service.

 

Before you Book

Beyond Blankets is an educational learning experience delivered through a historical and academic lens. While the exercise is interactive and often emotionally significant, it is not a healing or facilitated sharing circle. 

The exercise explores topics including residential schools, smallpox epidemics, assimilation, racism, violence, displacement, abuse, and the cumulative effects of colonialism. Participants may experience a range of emotional responses, particularly those with lived or intergenerational connections to these histories. 

We encourage booking organizations to communicate the nature of the exercise and its themes with participants in advance. Organizations should also consider what internal supports may be appropriate before and after the session based on the needs of their own staff, students, or community.  

PARC facilitators guide participants through the educational exercise with care and professionalism. They are not counsellors or crisis response professionals.

About booking Beyond Blankets

 

This was an incredibly powerful experience that refocused my own commitment to truth and reconciliation.  The feedback from participants was incredibly positive. Experiential learning brought a new perspective to the content that most of us had not experienced before. While the content was at times difficult, it was helpful to go through this learning process as a group in a safe space. 
Your facilitators were fantastic and ran the session perfectly on schedule. I can assure you that we will be sharing praises for this exercise with others, and will look to work with you again for future programing.

  • – Arts & Culture Council

I wanted to reach out and say thank you again for including our members in this presentation. The feedback has been amazing, I heard that the presentation was visually stunning, emotional, important and beautiful. We appreciate your support and inclusion.

  • – Elder College at UFV

Frequently asked questions

How should participants prepare?

Participants are asked to remove their shoes before stepping onto the blankets, so bringing socks is encouraged. No additional materials are required.  

We encourage participants to arrive with curiosity, respect, and a willingness to actively engage in the experience. 

At the beginning of each session, facilitators review participant expectations, explain the format of the exercise, and provide a content advisory before participants step onto the blankets. 

Before the session, it may be helpful to reflect on the lands you are gathering on (Stó:lō Téméxw) and become familiar with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action. 

 

 

Beyond Blankets explores topics including: 

  • Stó:lō history and culture  
  • Relationships to land 
  • Smallpox epidemics  
  • The fur trade  
  • The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush  
  • Colonial policies  
  • Residential schools  
  • Assimilation  
  • Racism  
  • Violence  
  • Displacement  
  • Stó:lō resilience and resurgence  

Some participants may find these topics emotionally difficult.  

 

The exercise can be delivered without technology. However, organizations may choose to include the optional PowerPoint presentation that provides additional visual context. 

If including the PowerPoint, the booking organization is responsible for providing a working projector, computer connection, screen, and any required audio equipment. The booking organization is responsible for ensuring all technology is operational. PARC facilitators will bring the PowerPoint on a USB. 

 

 

 

 

The most meaningful experiences come when participants engage fully in the activity. 

We encourage participants to: 

  • arrive with an open mind  
  • actively participate in the exercise  
  • remain present throughout the session  
  • abstaining from phone use  
  • refrain from eating or drinking (other than water) during the activity 

 

The current version of Beyond Blankets is designed for adult learners in workplaces, post-secondary institutions, community organizations, and professional learning environments. 

The current version of the exercise is designed for adult participants and is not currently offered to elementary or secondary school groups while age-specific versions are under development. We do not yet have a timeline for when these versions may become available.

 

Not at this time. 

PARC is exploring the development of a secondary school-specific version of Beyond Blankets designed specifically for younger learners. This work includes reviewing the structure, pacing, educational outcomes, and facilitation supports needed to ensure the experience is appropriate for secondary students. 

We are not currently accepting bookings from secondary school groups and do not yet have a timeline for when this version may become available. 

 

 

No. 

The current exercise was developed for adult learners and is not appropriate for elementary-aged participants. 

PARC is currently partnering with the Abbotsford School District to explore the development of an interactive Beyond Blankets curriculum for Grades 3–5. This work is in its early stages and is intended to create an age-appropriate learning experience specifically for elementary classrooms. 

 

 

 

Depending on facilitator availability, travel requirements, and venue logistics, PARC may be able to offer up to two sessions in a single day. 

A minimum one-hour reset period is required between sessions to prepare the space and materials. Multiple sessions are considered on a case-by-case basis and cannot be guaranteed. 

As each session requires its own facilitation, preparation, setup, delivery, and reset, each session is considered a separate booking and is invoiced at the applicable booking rate. A reduced rate is not available for multiple sessions offered on the same day.

  

 

 

We strive to make Beyond Blankets as accessible and inclusive as possible. While participants are typically invited to stand, move throughout the space, and engage in active learning, accommodations can be made to support a wide range of accessibility needs. Participation looks different for everyone, and facilitators are happy to work with individuals to ensure they can engage in ways that are comfortable and appropriate for them. 

Because Beyond Blankets is delivered at a variety of host locations, accessibility features may vary from site to site. Elements such as building accessibility, parking, washroom access, seating arrangements, and voice amplification technology (microphones and sound systems) are determined by the hosting organization and may not always be available. 

We encourage participants and booking organizers to discuss any accessibility or accommodation needs with PARC in advance of the session whenever possible. This allows us to work together with the host organization to create the most accessible learning environment possible.

 

 

As Beyond Blankets explores difficult histories and ongoing impacts of colonialism, we encourage organizations to think intentionally about participant support. 

Depending on your group, this may include communicating the content of the exercise in advance, identifying internal supports that participants can access if needed, or providing time after the session for reflection and discussion. 

PARC facilitators guide the educational experience but are not counsellors or crisis response professionals. 

 

 

While facilitators may adapt introductions, examples, or discussion to suit a particular audience, the core exercise follows a consistent educational framework. This helps preserve the integrity of the experience while ensuring participants receive a shared foundation in Stó:lō history, relationships to land, and the ongoing impacts of colonialism. 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely. Many organizations choose to invite an Elder or Knowledge Keeper to be part of their Beyond Blankets session, although this is not a requirement. Elder coordination and care are the responsibility of the booking organization.  

Depending on the wishes of the Elder and the goals of your gathering, they may offer a welcome or closing, witness the exercise, participate alongside the group, and/or provide support to participants following the session. Every Elder brings their own gifts and ways of contributing, and we encourage organizers to work collaboratively with them in determining what feels most appropriate. 

The invitation, coordination, honorarium, gifts, transportation, and day-of support for Elders are the responsibility of the booking organization. We also encourage organizers to connect with the Elder in advance to share what Beyond Blankets is, the topics it explores, and what their hoped-for role might be, while also inviting the Elder to share how they would like to be supported throughout the day. 

While every gathering is different, organizers may wish to consider: 

  • providing comfortable seating with a clear view of the activity;  
  • identifying a dedicated host from your organization to greet and support the Elder throughout the visit;  
  • ensuring refreshments and water are available;  
  • preparing an appropriate honorarium and gift in accordance with your organization's practices; and  
  • allowing time before or after the session for conversation or reflection, if desired by the Elder.  

For some groups, Elders have also chosen to offer additional care following the exercise, such as holding space for conversation or offering cultural practices. These decisions are entirely at the discretion of the Elder and the booking organization and are not part of the Beyond Blankets program or the 2-hour activity timeframe itself. 

For UFV departments planning to invite an Elder or Knowledge Keeper, we encourage reviewing the Indigenous Student Centre's Embracing Elders Resource Guide, which provides guidance on respectfully inviting, hosting, and caring for Elders. 

 

 

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