Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs plans to walk 120 kilometres starting June 16th in a decidedly different commemoration of Canada’s 150th birthday.
He says his Walk to Remember is to celebrate the resilience of indigenous people in the face of what has happened to them since Confederation.
“We have more to reflect upon the resilience of our families, the strength of our communities and nations of indigenous people in light of this.”
Nepinak plans to walk from the site of a former residential school that his mother attended in Dauphin, Man., to his home community — Pine Creek First Nation — where another residential school once stood.
Nepinak’s decision follows deliberations at a recent assembly conference at which elders declared they would not be celebrating Canada 150.