Walk In Solidarity With Aboriginals
The group’s 500-kilometre journey, which began March 8 in western Saskatchewan, will end Thursday in Edmonton at the Truth and Reconciliation hearings where they’ll hear about the effects of Canada’s residential schools.
Ann Heinrichs, who has adopted two aboriginal girls, says they would still be with their parents if not for the residential school system. (CBC)
About 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools between 1931 and 1996. Students endured substandard living conditions, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
Laurens Thiessen van Esch, who moved to Manitoba recently from the Netherlands, says the walk has given him a different perspective of Canadian history.