Travellers honour residential school survivors

By Bryan Myers
VermiliStandard
March 25, 2014

http://www.vermilionstandard.com/2014/03/25/travellers-honour-residential-school-survivors

Left to Right: Nathan Thorpe, Ann Heinrichs, Laurens Van Esch and Brad Langendoen are walking from Stony Knoll, Sk. to Edmonton, Alta. for the Nation Truth and Reconciliation Event on Indian Residential Schools.

For days, four people made their way on foot across the prairies from Stony Knoll, Saskatchewan to Edmonton, Alberta, a 500-kilometer journey to honour the memories of indigenous children who fled from residential schools but never returned home.

Last Thursday, the group stopped at the United Church in Vermilion for the night.

The group originally met in Winnipeg has decided to traverse the prairies by foot for the National Truth and Reconciliation Event on Residential Schools in Edmonton. Along they way, they’ve been taken in by various groups both First Nation and Christian.

“We’ve been hosted by a number of First Nations communities,” said Laurens Van Esch, originally from the Netherlands, has taken on the journey after having lived in Canada for only three months. “Their survivors share their stories with us, it’s incredibly powerful. It’s unimaginable to be taken away from your parents, and everything you know and have your identity taken away by priests in these very loveless environments.”

The group walks five to 10 hours each day and roughly 30 kilometers on average.

“We’re blessed in that the Mennonite Church of Canada has sponsored a rental vehicle, so we can stop wherever we want and pick up at the same spot,” said walker Nathan Thorpe,

Thorpe said he grew up not knowing much about residential schools and similar aspects of Canadian history.

“What does it mean to have privilege? A big part of this trip is learning how to honour the stories and help those people who’ve been hurt. And also learning about privilege,” said Thorpe. “The privilege that I have and enjoy comes at a cost. When you have privilege you are privileged over someone else.”

Ann Heinrichs said her and her husband adopted two First Nations children.

“There’s something wrong when, as a white couple, we could say, ‘oh, we’d love to adopt a First Nations child,” said Heinrich. “I think we assume it’s not a systemic problem. And that it’s an individual problem. We should ask why.”

Van Esch said their walk wasn’t the first of it’s kind, but it had garnered more attention than some walks taken by First Nations.

Information about the trip is available at www.honourwalk.ca.