Good afternoon,

 My name is Chelsea, and if we have not met, I am the lead for community and Indigenous relations at Wesdome’s Eagle River Mine. I wanted to let you know about an exciting opportunity we are bringing to the community.

 On Wednesday, October 22 we will be providing a FREE offering of the reconciliation workshop “The Blanket Exercise.” We are bringing two Indigenous facilitators from Thunder Bay to run the workshop, and it can accommodate up to 60 people. I have participated in this exercise twice, and both times I was absolutely blown away by how impactful it is. Even if you are well-versed in the history, I can guarantee you will still take something away from the experience.

There is a brief introduction to European-Indigenous history, and then participants are invited to play out the events of the past few hundred years. It concludes with a debrief and sharing circle. It is billed as a “participatory history lesson,” and offers “reconciliation through education and understanding.” We recommend this workshop for anyone working with Indigenous people in a professional capacity, as well as any interested community members.

*Content Warning: This workshop deals with difficult topics.

The workshop will take around 2.5 hours. It is taking place at 6:00pm on Wednesday, October 22. Michipicoten First Nation is hosting the event at their Elder’s Complex, located at 9 Wiigwaas Drive. Light refreshments will be provided. Parking is available both at the Complex, and a 2-minute walk away off of Whitesand Drive. There will be signage.

You can find out more about the workshop here: https://kairosblanketexercise.org/

 While the event is free, we ask that participants pre-register so that we can manage numbers. Please email me at this address if you are interested in attending or call me at 705-561-4555. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like more information.

 We would appreciate if you can help us spread the word by sharing this email and/or poster with anyone you think might be interested in this activity.  

 We are looking forward to connecting with you.