Support for Northern Alberta First Nation walking to Ottawa because Every Child Matters
* Trigger warning: readers may be triggered by the recount of Indian Residential Schools. To access a 24-hour National Crisis Line, call: 1-866-925-4419.
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION— Chief Vern Janvier of Chipewyan Prairie First Nation is taking his message all the way to Ottawa, one step at a time to make a better Canada for all.
The Blinding Light Walk – Tiger Lily, a contingent of about 15 walkers from Chipewyan Prairie First Nation Treaty 8, set out on their 500 kilometres journey from Sudbury, Ont., on July 18 and will walk 20 km a day until they get to Ottawa which they anticipate will take about four weeks.
Walking on the side of the highway and on the asphalt is difficult, but that’s the point, says Chief Janvier.
“The reason why we’re walking is to feel some of the pain that the children felt in the Residential Schools. A walk of 500 km, it’s painful, but it’s nothing compared to what the children felt in those schools,” he explains about the journey. “The children have risen for change. To peel back the layers of the Indian Act and change the very policies that put them in the ground.”
Resting on the side of Highway 11, close to Nipissing First Nation’s Jocko Point, Chief Janvier explains Indian Residential Schools were an extension of the Indian Act.
“The Roman Catholic Church and other churches worked for the government of Canada under the Indian Act. We still live under that policy today. We’re still shackled to that old colonial law. It’s a law of obedience and it’s a law of control. We have no control over our life today. It’s just like they did back then. They took our children and did whatever they wanted. The destroying of the Indian is what it’s all about,” he notes. “We just want to make Canada a healthy place, an equal place for all – including anybody that comes to Canada for safety. We want to see the Act dealt with in a way that it was meant to be under the Treaty where we are in equality under the rules of Canada.”
The Blinding Light Walk – Tiger Lily began on July 1.
“We did a walk at home from Canada Day. We walked to Fort McMurray. It’s about a 140 km walk, with this group plus a whole bunch of others. Out of that, we just kept going.”
Walkers of The Blinding Light Walk – Tiger Lily praise the generosity and support of Nipissing First Nation members as they made their way through the territory on July 23. Indian Residential School Survivors and others stopped to show support. Maggie and Cathy McLeod brought moose meat to the group while Lily Armstrong, Harry Goulais and Alice Villemaire cooked up and delivered a fish dinner feast.
Other local community members and businesses welcomed the walkers and offered in-kind and moral support during their brief stay in the surrounding area. The walkers will resume their walk today starting from Duchesnay Falls, just outside of North Bay, and walking eastbound towards Ottawa. They walk for 20 km and take breaks every 5km and they start each day around 9 am.
The walkers are creating awareness along the way to Ottawa as investigations continue to find the unmarked graves of Indigenous children forced to attend Indian Residential Schools. The orange tiger lily represents the children that have risen to guide and push towards change.
Chief Janvier is thankful he didn’t go to one.
“My generation, we were the first generation that didn’t go to Residential Schools. We were protected from that,” he expresses. “I think it’s time that the Canadian government took the time to sit down and deal with this problem.”
The journey to Ottawa can be followed on The Blinding Light Walk – Tiger Lily Facebook page where live updates; information on the Indian Act, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), and Indian Residential Schools; and ideas on how to support the walkers can be found.