'Honoring Our Children Journey' makes stop in Sudbury
Four females from a Saskatchewan First Nation passed through Sudbury on Sunday as they bike to Ottawa for their 'Honoring Our Children Journey.' They hope to arrive on Sept. 30 which is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
They are on the road raising awareness about residential schools and intergenerational trauma.
"Everyone needs to know that every child matters. So it's really important to me that everyone should know that and it can't be hidden and we can't be silenced," said Samara Linklater, a 16 year old making the journey.
Sunday marked day 56 on the road for the youth and three women ranging in ages from 8-41.
They left Pelican Narrows Saskatchewan Aug. 2 on route to Ottawa and are calling their trip "Honoring Our Children Journey."
"They went through so much at those schools. They lost their innocence they lost their cultures and their traditions," said ride organizer Veronique McCallum.
"They were forced to cut their hair which is sacred to our people. The braid is a meaning of our strength and our love and the trust and the honesty and the family."
Kori Bear, 8, said she hopes she gains some important qualities from the trip.
"I hope to accomplish strength, love.....trust," said Kori Bear.
On a stop over in the Sault the groups 2 bicycles were stolen.
"I felt really really bad and really sad because that one bike it made it all the way from Pelican Narrows and I really thought it was going to make it all the way to Ottawa," said 21-year-old rider Creedence McCallum.
The group said kind strangers donated money to replace the stolen bikes.
"It's been quite a journey. We have faced lots of obstacles but we kept going, kept praying and the right people come along like angels come along to help us when we least expect it," said Veronique McCallum.
When the group reaches Ottawa they hope to meet face to face with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and said they plan to ask some questions in the their Cree language.
You can follow the group's journey on their Facebook page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.