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Hundreds walk together

Over 150 people took part in a walk to end racism in St. Paul on Feb. 6 in the freezing temperatures, with hundreds more gathering in the warmth of the St. Paul Rec. Centre, in a sign of solidarity.
Hundreds of people took part in last week’s walk, calling for a more inclusive community.
Hundreds of people took part in last week’s walk, calling for a more inclusive community.

Over 150 people took part in a walk to end racism in St. Paul on Feb. 6 in the freezing temperatures, with hundreds more gathering in the warmth of the St. Paul Rec. Centre, in a sign of solidarity.

The walk was organized by a number of different groups, and began at the Spirit Bear statue at Racette Junior High School before making a stop at the Elder statue outside the post office.

Following the post office, the walk continued on to Portage College before ending at the Rec. Centre, where a 600-plus crowd, made up of hundreds of students from local schools, was waiting. Speeches were made during each stop on the tour, with Town of St. Paul Mayor Maureen Miller kicking off the walk, and telling the crowd that racism needs to be addressed, furthering the notion that inclusiveness is important for a healthy community.

“I really feel the activity (of) engaging in this walk communicates that we have the willingness to understand and respect the richness and strength that diversity brings to our communities,” Miller told the Journal, after the walk wrapped up.

“I am grateful that so many chose to battle the cold and leave their warm comfortable homes to make a stand (and say) that we do not accept racism.”

Throughout the walk, some participants held up a Saddle Lake Cree Nation flag, while others played drums and sang during the police escorted stroll through town. One man held up a ‘Say No to Racism’ sign, while a pair of other walkers represented a Treaty 6 flag.

Some business owners came outside of their shop to cheer and applaud the walk, shouting words of encouragement as it passed by their storefronts.

While the weather was too cold for students of participating schools to take part in the actual walk, they headed straight for the Rec. Centre, which was filled to the brim. Temperatures had dipped below -30C with the wind-chill on Tuesday morning.

The ceremony at the Rec. Centre began with a blessing and prayer from Elder Eva Cardinal. On the stage with her was Miller, and members of the Saddle Lake band council. Cardinal also briefly addressed the crowd.

“It is my hope the understanding will grow amongst us in this action that we take together, and it will remind us of the many things we are striving for,” Cardinal said. “You are witnessing history today.”

Later, Cardinal would present Miller and the Town of St. Paul with a Treaty 6 Flag.

“It was so special to get (the flag) from Eva because she’s such a special person. Knowing it came from (former Chief) Leonard (Jackson) and Elizabeth. Knowing it was important to Leonard Jackson that this walk happened, it was moving to me,” Miller explained to the Journal.

“I do hope we can find a cherished place to fly that.”

Treaty 6 is one of seven agreements made between First Nations and the Canadian government between 1871-1877. Treaty 6 represents parts of central Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The first speaker following Cardinal was Pamela Quinn, whose Facebook video of her confronting young people in a car who had allegedly shouted out racist remarks while driving in St. Paul sparked a conversation that ultimately led to Tuesday’s event.

“We’re all here for a reason. Because we believe that this needs to be a better place to live in harmony. To go to school and know you belong, and to walk the streets and feel safe, to be free from racist remarks and become one,” Quinn said to the crowd.

Quinn later spoke with the Journal, and was encouraged by the size of the crowd.

“It means that you’re not alone, that there are more people out there that want to live in a better world. Our one of our strengths is coming together in unity.”

Getting through to the younger generations was a common goal of all the speakers, and Quinn’s message was no different.

“We’re going to find our strength in the youth, from their spirit. It’s finding that good spirit that kind of overpowers that negative spirit and racism. So, it’s hope.”

Along the walls of the Rec. Centre, three questions were written out, with children being able to answer the questions with markers below.

The three questions included: Where do we go from here? What is my relationship to the treaty? And why did you participate today?

Quinn says they would collect the responses to the questions made by the children to get an understanding of where they stand, and those answers will be brought forward at a future meeting.

Miller says schools should be the main well to tap in order to quench the children’s thirst for knowledge about the past, but also conversations and interactions around the “kitchen table.”

County of St. Paul Coun. Maxine Fodness also briefly spoke on stage, sharing her desire for inclusiveness.

“We met, we talked, and we walked together today. Now we shall stand. Stand against racism, and against social prejudice. That is my hope and my prayer. Let us love one another.”

John Large, a council member in Saddle Lake also took time to address the crowd about the importance of respecting each other, especially women.

“Women are the ones that give us life. We must protect them because without them we are nothing,” said Large.

Speaking later to the Journal, Large said he believes racism should already be a thing of the past.

“We (shouldn’t) need to deal with racism. There are too many things going on in the world. This shouldn’t be one of them. We have issues with our Earth and our water… this is the stuff we should be dealing with. (Racism) shouldn’t even be in our vocabulary.”

Large also spoke about steering youth in the right direction.

“If we don’t do that, it’s going to be really hard to change the mindset of people in the future. We will still be struggling with the social issues that we face right now.”

He applauded everyone who attended the walk and the event at the Rec. Centre.

“I acknowledge everyone here that took the opportunity to be here today. That took a lot of courage because this isn’t an easy thing to talk about . . . Like (Justin) Trudeau said when he first got elected as Prime Minister ‘We live in 2016,’ but in some areas within Canada we’re still in 1916.”

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