Alaska Blanket Exercise
The Alaska Blanket Exercise program is a participatory history lesson – developed in collaboration with Alaska Native Elders, knowledge keepers and educators – that fosters truth, understanding, respect, and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
Alaska Blanket Exercise
akblanketexercise@anthc.org
Through an experiential learning activity, participants will walk on blankets representing the land and into the role of Alaska Native people by reading scrolls and carrying cards which ultimately determine their outcome as they literally ‘walk’ through situations that include pre-contact, colonization and resistance. This exercise was adapted from a best practice exercise use by indigenous people in Canada.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will gain knowledge and understanding of Alaska Native history, since time immemorial.
- Participants will develop an understanding of the impacts of intergenerational trauma on Alaska Native people.
- Participants will develop an awareness of and gain an understanding of what they can do in their own lives and communities to break cycles of intergenerational trauma.
ABE Learning Community’s Session Recordings
- Tlingit Traditional Healing by Meda DeWitt, MA., TH., December 2023
- Why we Hurt by Amber Webb and Tiffany Webb, October 2023
- Indigenous Storywork of Healing Trauma, Sept. 2023
- Bridging Cultures: A comparative exploration of Indigenous Talking Circles and Western focus groups with Alaskan Native people by Sharnel Vale-Jones, Yaagál, August 2023
- Knowledge and Contemporary Effects of Historical Trauma Among American Indian/Alaska Native College Students by Jennifer Yazzie, April 2022
- Living on America’s Tip of the Spear: Perspectives from an Indigenous psychologist-in-training by Jonathan Guerrero, May 2022
- America’s History and Legacy of Violence by Christina Love, June 2022
- Two-Eyed Seeing: A Path for Research, Interconnectedness & Mino Bimaadiziwin (The Good Life) by Karli Tyance Hassell, August 2022
- Community Public Health Care in Tribal Communities by Annette Hubbard, September 2022
- The Past & Future of Evaluating the Alaska Blanket Exercise: What People Have Said & Building Evidence of Effectiveness by Amber Frasure, Amber Schmidt, Jonathan U. Guerrero, and Rebecca Ipiaqruk Young, January 2023
- The Impacts of Historical and Racial Trauma on Healthcare System Distrust and Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services by Tracy Stewart, February 2023
- Qaqamiigux: Sustaining Subsistence Practices for Wellness by Tracy Stewart, April 2023
- The Renaissance of Alaska Native Music & Dance by Dr. Maria Shaa Tláa Williams, May 2023
Supplemental Resources
Additional Online Resources
Alaska Native History
- Project Jukebox – Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program
- World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous People
- Anchorage Activities and Museums
- Alaska Native Heritage Center
- Fighting to Teach Alaska Native History
- Alaska Native Knowledge Network
- Calricaraq: Indigenous Yup’ik Wellbeing
- Alaska Federation of Natives
- Jane Haigh History of Alaska
Historical Trauma
Funding for these activities was made possible in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant: 5 NU38OT000277-02-00). The views expressed in written materials, or publications, or by speakers do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.