The rain did not stop people.
Photo: Ward Perrin, PNG
Adapted from The Vancouver Sun
Level 2
It was raining. Everyone held umbrellas. Seventy thousand people walked to honour First Nations people.
The walk ended a week of events. The events celebrated Aboriginal heritage.
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- Dr. Bernice King talked to the large group gathered for the walk. Click here to watch the video.
The week was a time to remember the hurt caused by residential schools. It was a time to look forward to a better future.
Mavis Jeffries and her daughter came to walk.
Photo: Ward Perrin, PNG
Remembering was part of the process this week for Mavis Jeffries. Telling her story was hard. She felt ill. She nearly fainted. The support she received was like a warm blanket.
Dr. Bernice King spoke at the walk. Her father was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He worked for equal rights for American black people in the 1950s and ’60s. In 1968, he was shot and killed.
The Canadian government took aboriginal children away from their homes. They had to live at residential schools. The schools lasted 150 years.
The children who went to these schools are called survivors. These survivors are now adults.