Our 2025 Peace with Nature public forum featured Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) and their Witness to Injustice “blanket exercise”—a moving program that builds on understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
On April 27, 2025, Mohonk Consultations welcomed a group of over 60 people to the Mohonk Conference House for “WITNESS TO INJUSTICE: Reconsidering Indigenous and US History.”
Created in collaboration with KAIROS Canada, Witness to Injustice is an interactive group teaching tool that offers an experiential illustration of what Indigenous Peoples of our region have endured throughout colonization. The participatory exercise illustrates the loss and reshaping of the American landscape as European settlers and colonizers arrived and claimed the part of the world now known as the United States—including the territory stewarded by people of the Onondaga Nation and other Haudenosaunee peoples.
Participants were presented with colored ribbons to represent the many Indigenous people of the land now known as the United States. The land was symbolically created by multiple blankets placed on the floor with a blue oblong cloth running through to represent the Mississippi River. The fifty-three attendees were then placed by the six NOON presenters on blankets which represented various regions of the US. NOON members took turns reading a compacted version of 500 years of the Indigenous experience of living on Turtle Island, from before colonization to the many effects of the Doctrine of Discovery: Columbus, the Sullivan Campaign, the Trail of Tears, the Dawe’s Act, and much more. As each region’s history was described, the participants were asked to “leave the blanket” and take a seat, symbolizing the fate of the peoples of those regions. By the end of the exercise, few were left standing.
Interspersed within the narrative was the role European settlers played, both as perpetrators of injustice and as victims themselves of hierarchal European government structures which they or their ancestors sought to flee. Throughout the exercise it was relayed by the presenters, four of whom were of the Onondaga Nation, that “we, the Indigenous, are still here and still strong”.
Following the exercise the NOON members led circles where participant shared reflections of their experience and what they had learned, at times leading to discussion and ideas of what can be done to move forward to right wrongs.
Audience Comments
- The program was beyond my expectation; It was experiential and deep.
- It left me very reflective
- The blanket exercise made it so real and personal
- The presenters engaged without judgement. they came without an agenda
- The blanket exercise was extremely powerful
- I liked most the profound sharing of this part of our shared history
- An incredibly moving experience, a very condensed and informative “real” history of how this nation was created by destroying those who were here
- Our nation still needs to right the wrongs of Indigenous People
- Feeling the history
Followup Resources
The program presenters shared information about how participants can stay in touch with NOON and its activities along with an extensive list of related books, videos and online resources. This followup document can be downloaded here.
Mohonk Consultations was honored to host Neighbors of the Onondaga and the Witness to Injustice blanket exercise. We are moved to continue deepening our understanding of Indigenous history toward a better future.
About NOON
Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) is a grassroots organization of Central New Yorkers which recognizes and supports the sovereignty of the traditional government of the Onondaga Nation. A program of the Syracuse Peace Council, NOON supports the right of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim land, and advocates for fair settlement of any claims which are filed.
Sponsorship support provided by M&T Charitable Foundation:
