This nonfiction book for middle-grade readers, illustrated with photographs, tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a work by Indigenous artist Carey Newman that includes items from every residential school in Canada and stories from the Survivors who donated them.

For more than 150 years, thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to residential schools across Canada.

Artist Carey Newman created the Witness Blanket to make sure that history is never forgotten. The Blanket is a living work of art—a collection of hundreds of objects from those schools. It includes everything from photos, bricks, hockey skates, graduation certificates, dolls and piano keys to braids of hair. Behind every piece is a story. And behind every story is a residential school Survivor, including Carey's father. This book is a collection of truths about what happened at those schools, but it's also a beacon of hope and a step on the journey toward reconciliation.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Key Selling Points

• Every chapter uses an object from the Witness Blanket and the first-hand experiences of Survivors to tell a story about a residential school.
• Gives young readers insight into Carey's artistic process and how his relationship with the objects and stories informed his art.
• This is an extremely personal project as Carey Newman's father is a residential school Survivor.
• The authors previously collaborated on Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket.
• The Witness Blanket team traveled over 124,000 miles (200,000 kilometers), visited 77 communities and met over 10,000 people in every Canadian province and territory. Along the way, they gathered nearly 900 pieces of history that became the basis for the Blanket.
• The Blanket now lives at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, where the creation of a digital Witness Blanket is underway so that its stories can be shared with more people and communities across Canada.
• Includes a glossary and list of resources.
• The truth about residential schools is still being uncovered. In 2021 the remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, and since then thousands more unmarked graves have been discovered across Canada at former residential school sites.
• In Canada, September 30 is recognized as Orange Shirt Day or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honoring the children that attended residential schools.