Abstract
This chapter explores master carver Carey Newman’s ongoing journey of transformation. It demonstrates how his individual journey has seeded collective transformation and shifted Canadian consciousness, through a monumental art installation titled The Witness Blanket. This work has led to (more difficult to achieve) legal-structural change, enacted through ceremony in an innovative stewardship agreement between Carey and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The agreement details ongoing collective responsibility for the Witness Blanket. Through storytelling, this chapter attends to the emotional and spiritual dimensions of transformation and exemplifies how transformative learning is an ongoing process rather than an end state. In particular, it shows how the act of bearing witness can promote a sense of responsibility, deep enough to propel individual, collective, and structural change.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This quote is often attributed to Dr. Lilla Watson, Australian Indigenous visual artist, activist and academic from Gangulu country in Central Queensland. The following source suggests that she prefers that the attribution for this quote go to the collective: http://unnecessaryevils.blogspot.com/2008/11/attributing-words.html.
- 2.
Indigenous peoples were incorrectly referred to as Indians by colonizers.
References
Ball, J. (2005). “Nothing about us without us”: Restorative research partnerships involving Indigenous children and communities in Canada. In A. Farrell (Ed.), Exploring ethical research with children (pp. 81–96). Open University Press/McGraw Hill Education.
Brookfield, S. (2002). Reassessing subjectivity, criticality, and inclusivity: Marcuse’s challenge to adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 52(4), 265–280.
Buechner, B., Dirkx, J., Konvisser, Z. D., Myers, D., & Peleg-Baker, T. (2020). From liminality to communitas: The collective dimensions of transformative learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 18(2), 87–113.
Davis-Manigaulte, J., Yorks, L., & Kasl, E. (2006). Expressive ways of knowing and transformative learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 109, 27–35.
Dirkx, J. (1998). Knowing the self through fantasy: Toward a mytho-poetic view of transformative learning. Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/1998/papers/25/
Etmanski, C. (2018). Seeds and stories of transformation from the individual to the collective. Journal of Transformative Education, 16(2), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344617696973
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Milkweed.
Lawrence, R. L., & Cranton, P. (2015). A novel idea: Researching transformative learning in fiction. Sense.
MacDonald, D. B. (2019). The sleeping giant awakens: Genocide, Indian residential schools, and the challenge of conciliation. University of Toronto Press.
Marcuse, H. (1978). The aesthetic dimension: Toward a critique of Marxist aesthetics (rev. ed.). Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (n.d.). Interactive map. University of Manitoba. https://nctr.ca/map.php
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming power and place: The final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
Neeganagwedgin, E. (2020). Indigenous systems of knowledge and transformative learning practices: Turning the gaze upside down. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 14(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2019.1652815
Newman, C. Hayalthkin’geme with Etmanski, C. (2019). Truthful engagement: Making the Witness Blanket, an ongoing process of reconciliation (Report from the field). Engaged Scholar Journal, 5(2), 235–243. https://esj.usask.ca/index.php/esj/article/view/68347/52079
Newman, C., & Graham, C. (Directors). (2015). Picking up the pieces: The making of the Witness Blanket [Documentary film]. Produced by C. Newman & Media One. Presented by Canadian Museum for Human Rights. https://humanrights.ca/story/picking-up-the-pieces-the-making-of-the-witness-blanket
Newman, C., & Hudson, C. (2019). Picking up the pieces: Residential school memories and the making of the Witness Blanket. Orca.
Stevens-Long, J., Schapiro, S. A., & McClintock, C. (2012). Passionate scholars: Transformative learning in doctoral education. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(2), 180–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713611402046
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf
University of Regina. (n.d.). Shattering the silence: The hidden history of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan eBook. Heart eBook resource for educators. University of Regina, Faculty of Education. https://www2.uregina.ca/education/saskindianresidentialschools/lebret-quappelle-indian-industrial-residential-school/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Newman, C., Etmanski, C. (2022). The Witness Blanket: Responsibility Through an Ongoing Journey of Transformation. In: Nicolaides, A., Eschenbacher, S., Buergelt, P.T., Gilpin-Jackson, Y., Welch, M., Misawa, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84694-7_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84694-7_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84693-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84694-7
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)