Description
‘Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket’ tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a living work of art conceived by Carey Newman, Hayalthkin'geme, who is a multidisciplinary artist and master carver. In his artistic practice he strives to highlight Indigenous, social or environmental issues. The Witness Blanket includes hundreds of items collected from residential schools across Canada, everything from bricks, photos and letters to hockey skates, dolls and braids. The finished Witness Blanket is about 12 metres long while the tallest point is 3 metres high and the 13 panels weigh more than 2 tons and resides in the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. It is a material witness to, and reflection of, the residential school experiences in Canada. Carey was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2017 and was named to the Order of British Columbia in 2018. Kirstie Hudson is an editor and writer in Victoria, British Columbia. This blanket is made for the Survivors, and for the children who never came home; for the dispossessed, the displaced and the forgotten so that we will never forget them. Bank Street College of Education has selected Picking Up the Pieces as a best book of the year.