The Walk of Sorrow headed by Patricia Ballantyne stopped in Kapuskasing last night. The Indian Friendship Centre held a ceremonial fire, drumming and feast to honour her and her group. Kindman Coordinator Desiree Matthews was thrilled to have her stop and rest in our community.
“That idea to walk to Ottawa is very inspirational because it takes a strong woman to do that,” Matthews said. “And all of these people that are following her and supporting her is very nice to see that and we want to support her as much as we can.”
Photos By Denis J. Puska.
Ballantyne has been thrilled by the outpouring of support she has received not only in Kapuskasing, but also a few days ago from members of Constance Lake First Nation.
“We met them along the highway and they walked us a bit,” she said. “We were all emotional and so grateful. We had so much support from them because they had put us up for a few days as we were finishing off the highway over there.”
Ballantyne and the Walk of Sorrow head to Cochrane on Thursday where the group will spend a few days to rest before moving on to Timmins on Sunday.
The Walk of Sorrow is aimed at healing First Nations following the discovery of unmarked graves of residential school students in Canada. She hopes to reach Ottawa by the end of August.
