Leon remembers positive experiences with sports despite the horrific history of residential schools.
Playing sports was a chance for kids to work together and take pride in their skills. But traditional Indigenous games and pastimes were almost never allowed at residential schools. Instead, school staff trained children in group exercises and sports such as hockey and skiing. Sports were part of the schools’ attempt to stamp out Indigenous cultures and ways of life
Learn more about this story at:
witnessblanket.ca/story/skate

Learn more about residential schools through the voices of Survivors at:
witnessblanket.ca/

The Witness Blanket is a large-scale work of art inspired by a woven blanket. It contains hundreds of items. They were reclaimed from residential schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures from across Canada. It stands as a national monument to recognize the atrocities of the Indian residential school era. It honours the children and the Survivors. It symbolizes ongoing reconciliation.

The Witness Blanket team collected over 880 objects from every province and territory in Canada. They travelled over 200,000 kilometres, visited 77 communities and met more than 10,000 people.

They interviewed Survivors in their homes or on the sites of residential schools they were forced to attend. These Survivors’ stories have been woven throughout this website. The emotional power of objects and the voices of Survivors combine to bear witness to the legacy of Canada’s residential schools.