Annual walk towards Truth and Reconciliation set for Saturday

The annual Every Child Matters, Truth and Reconciliation Walk continues to grow each year, which organizer Eve Powder calls heartwarming. 

Each year on Sept. 30, hundreds of people make the trip to McDougall Stoney Memorial Church along Hwy. 1A, just west of Cochrane while continuing to build stronger relationships with neighbours, and working towards reconciliation. 

Powder said the event will include a 2.8 k.m. walk, which usually takes about a half an hour. 

"We're doing a smudge and a morning prayer in the morning and then we continue on with our walk. The walk is to honour and recognize the residential school survivors, and also the ones that didn't make it home, the children that didn't make it home." 

She said it's touching to see people from all over attend each year, and especially the younger generation. 

"It's really heartwarming to see communities outside of Mînî Thnî come and support the Truth and Reconciliation walk. It really means a lot, it just touches my heart just to see and know that we have support from the Cochrane area." 

Approximately 300 people participated in last year's event. 

"It's open to everybody. People are welcome to come and talk to other First Nations members." 

The event begins at 10 a.m. 

After the walk, the public is encouraged to attend the Building Relationships Traditional Pow Wow at SLS Centre.

More information about the walk can be found on the Facebook page. 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, CochraneNow encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CochraneNow app.