Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket

By Carey Newman and Kristie Hudson

Picking Up the Pieces tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a living work of art conceived and created by Indigenous artist Carey Newman. It includes hundreds of items collected from Residential Schools across Canada, everything from bricks, photos and letters to hockey skates, dolls and braids. Every object tells a story.

Carey takes the reader on a journey from the initial idea behind the Witness Blanket to the challenges in making it work to its completion. The story is told through the objects and the Survivors who donated them to the project. At every step in this important journey for children and adults alike, Carey is a guide, sharing his process and motivation behind the art. It's a very personal project. Carey's father is a Residential School Survivor. Like the Blanket itself, Picking Up the Pieces calls on readers of all ages to bear witness to the Residential School experience, a tragic piece of Canada’s history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Sep 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781459819979

Carey Newman

Carey Newman or Hayalthkin'geme is a multidisciplinary artist and master carver. Through his father he is Kwakwaka'wakw from the Kukwekum, Giiksam, and WaWalaby'ie clans of Fort Rupert, and Coast Salish from Cheam of the Stó:lo Nation along the upper Fraser Valley. Through his mother he is English, Irish, and Scottish. In his artistic practice he strives to highlight Indigenous, social or environmental issues. Carey was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2017 and was named to the Order of British Columbia in 2018. With Kirstie Hudson, he co-authored Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket which was a finalist for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Nonfiction. Carey lives in Victoria, British Columbia.