Thousands lace up shoes to join annual walk for reconciliation
Mood upbeat at event that coincides with National Indigenous Peoples Day
Pausing briefly on the first leg of the Rock Your Roots for Reconciliation Walk, Deborah Kim stood on the sidewalk along Spadina Crescent West as another woman with a plastic spray bottle spritzed her face.
Thursday was the first year that Kim, who travelled to Saskatoon from Beardy ’s and Okemasis Cree Nation, took part in the walk.
She was happy to see thousands of people from many different backgrounds there, she said. No matter what walk of life we’re from, we’ve all had challenges to overcome, Kim added. More than 4,000 people attended.
“It’s such a beautiful place to be right now because there’s so many beautiful people out here.”
She joined the walk because she thinks we all need to come together at one time, “And this is the one time,” she said, adding that things can only get better from here.
The drive to be at the reconciliation walk runs deep for her.
Most of her family members were or are residential school survivors.
She herself is not, because her parents, both survivors of the schools, kept her at home — “And it’s just making me stronger, because they were survivors and then it’s my challenge to keep going and break that cycle of abuses and whatever we’ve been through in life and continue forth,” she said. “Because it’s a beautiful day.” It was also a hot day, and participants readily accepted the water bottles handed out by Ranjit Singh and other members of the Sikh Society of Saskatoon.
“It’s a good thing for the community, for everybody,” Singh said of the walk.
“At least we can (be) walking together.”
Now in its third year, the event coincides with National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. Earlier in the morning, the City of Saskatoon announced that the new north commuter bridge will be named after Chief Mistawasis.
It was welcome news for Tara Kyle, a Cree woman with roots in Mistawasis Nehiyawak, located about 120 kilometres north of the city.
She took part in the walk to show support for her culture, she said.
“We need the reconciliation, and seeing all of these people from all the different walks of life is just absolutely wonderful.”
Arvid Kuhnle, at the side of the road with a camera in hand, captured many of them as they passed by. He said he was there taking photos for reconciliation. “Any shape or form I can help reconciliation, that’s what I do,” he said.
Kuhnle compared himself to the parting of a wave, because everyone walks around him and past him as he shoots photos.
He recalled one of his first visits to Wanuskewin Heritage Park, where he saw a round frame drum hanging on a wall.
He later got involved in a project for the Adoption Support Centre of Saskatchewan. “We cleaned moose hides. We made frame drums. We learned the traditional ceremonies. We gave thanks to the animal that gave us that life,” he said, expressing gratitude that he was able to learn more about First Nations’ way of life.
“It’s a major shift in appreciation and understanding. And the things that I hear from the speakers every time, I learn more every time. It’s really a blessing.”