Walk of Sorrow returns to the north
The ‘Walk of Sorrow’ is passing through the north once again, to continue raising awareness of the lasting impacts of the residential school system and call for action.
Patricia Ballantyne is picking up where she left off last year and wanted to stop at communities she visited previously, to promote healing.
Last year's inaugural ‘Walk of Sorrow’ brought Patricia Ballantyne and her supporters from Saskatchewan to Ottawa. This time she wants to meet even more survivors while supporting those she has met along the way.
“Reminding them that we are still here and we're never going away, until our time has come,” said Ballantyne.
She says these ceremonies encourage ongoing healing and ensure that the conversation stays alive.
Seeing how the papal visit caused people's trauma to resurfaced, Ballantyne said she realized she had to keep walking.
"There's so much grief out there that still needs to be talked about and so much anger that still needs to be worked on."
She shared her experience attending a residential school from age four to 14 and invited others to join.
In Timmins Friday, a local elder said the opening prayer and says the ceremony was comforting.
"I heard myself, almost the same story that I went through and these stories that we hear from each other, you know, it's empowering us. It's helping us to find the courage to move forward and know that life, life is good," said Annie Metatawabin, another residential school survivor.
Ballantyne's return to Timmins also gave people who didn't feel comfortable attending last year a chance to be among others.
"To be here and know that there's other people going through the same thing. I think last year I isolated but this year, I'm feeling very connected to community and healing in a different way. It's just a reminder that there's always people around us, we're always connected, so i'm very grateful and honoured to be here," said Kristin Murray, Timmins’ deputy-mayor, at the event.
This is why Ballantyne says she wants to keep coming back to these communities as she journeys across Canada.
"The healing process doesn't take a month, a summer, it takes a lifetime."
After walking to Halifax, she wants to walk to British Columbia next year and then northern Canada the year after.
Ballantyne says the ‘Walk of Sorrow’ is helping her heal and hopes it's allowing other survivors to either begin or push forward on their paths.
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