Rock Your Roots walk a step toward reconciliation, says co-organizer of Saskatoon event

Candace Wasacase-Lafferty says the final report of the national inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls featured conclusions Indigenous people already knew.

The report said the thousands of Indigenous women and girls who were murdered or disappeared across the country in recent decades are victims of a Canadian genocide.

Addressing these hard truths is the path forward toward reconciliation, Wasacase-Lafferty said.

Wasacase-Lafferty is one of the organizers with Reconciliation Saskatoon, the group behind Friday's Rock Your Roots: Walk For Reconciliation.

The walk, which coincides with National Indigenous Peoples Day, recognizes residential school survivors, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, and Sixties Scoop survivors.

But it's also a call for action, said Wasacase-Lafferty, who is also the director of Indigenous initiatives at the University of Saskatchewan.

"It's kind of like we're sharing what Indigenous people have always known. And now the rest of the country is coming to know and we need to be a strong community to handle that together," she said. "And that's why these things like Rock your Roots are so critical because it brings people together to be comfortable with each other."

The annual walk began in 2016 and has grown every year.

Wasacase-Lafferty said Reconciliation Saskatoon is made up of 60 to 70 organizations from all walks of life who want to find solutions.

"I think it becomes more and more undeniable that there are injustices, but together we can handle them," Wasacase-Lafferty said. "I think before we shied away from this kind of controversy. We didn't want to talk about it. It was Canada's little secret."

Anyone is invited to take part in the walk, which begins in Victoria Park with a pipe ceremony at 7 a.m. CST. The walk itself starts at 9:30 a.m. and will feature a variety of traditional and multicultural dances, music and performances along the way.

It ends at the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre, where it will join other National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations.

This year's theme is "Re-ignite the fire."

"To me it's about awakening the fire inside the individual to bring out change," Wasacase-Lafferty said.

Organizers expect around 5,000 people to take part in the walk this year. Wasacase-Lafferty said she envisions it continuing to grow in prominence in future years.

"Everybody will know and everyone will be part of that solution and we'll normalize working together," she said.

"I think we are starting to become a lot more comfortable with being uncomfortable. And that's a great thing."

Wanuskewin Heritage Park

There are many other activities going on Friday in Saskatoon as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Wanuskewin has a full slate of activities from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CST, said Chris Standing, Wanuskewin's visitor services manager.

The program kicks off with the Grand Entry at 9:30 a.m. Other daytime activities include dance performances, horse drawn wagon rides, tipi raisings, traditional games and guided walks.

In the evening there will be live music and a family comedy show with Don Burnstick.

Meanwhile, the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc. is hosting a Culture, Community and Reconciliation event featuring music and dance Friday evening at the Ukrainian Orthodox Auditorium.