Thousands gather to rock their roots in Saskatoon

Thousands of people filled Saskatoon streets along the riverbank Friday for the fourth annual Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation.

The annual event has become a massive yearly celebration on National Aboriginal Peoples Day.

Organizer Gilles Dorval, the director of Indigenous initiatives with the city, said coming together is what the day is all about.

“It symbolizes the diversity in our community,” he said. “(It helps to) really pull the community together, to walk together, get to know your neighbour and also acknowledge the history of Indigenous people.”

The walk featured a variety of entertainment ranging from Japanese drumming to Metis jigging along its route that took roughly 5,000 people along Spadina Avenue and 19th Street before looping through river landing.

Dancers greet the walk as it moves past the Farmer's Market. #yxe pic.twitter.com/vESWqwIdOr

— Keenan Sorokan (@KeenanSorokan) June 21, 2019

Seeing the huge crowd behind him gave Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand a sense of what this could mean for reconciliation moving forward.

“I’m excited about the education tool,” he said, “because when the people are here, it shows that it’s a buy-in, and they’re understanding and wanting to make change. Some of them may not know how, but they’re here to learn.”‘

Arcand sees no reason why 10,000 people wouldn’t be attending the walk in a few years as its popularity grows.

Many people were walking to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, residential school survivors and ’60s Scoop survivors.

Hearing people talk about those sensitive topics was one of the many things Arcand appreciated about the event.

“Reconciliation is about working together, that’s simply what it is,” Arcand said. “And understanding how we can make changes that benefit people. We are all treaty people, that’s what treaty was meant to do: Share and work together.”

Nothing but smiles as the grand entry begins the formal part of today's celebration at Victoria Park. #yxe pic.twitter.com/0Ga2lArivw

— Keenan Sorokan (@KeenanSorokan) June 21, 2019

After the walk along the river, participants ended up at Victoria Park where celebrations were planned throughout the afternoon that featured a variety of speakers and entertainment.

Undoubtedly, the stars of the event were upwards of 3,000 students bused to Victoria Park for the walk.

Shirley Isbister, the president of the Central Urban Metis Inc., couldn’t overstate how important it is to have children carry on reconciliation for generations to come.

“That’s an education. That’s children learning ahead of time why we’re doing the walk, but also being able to pass that on to the future,” she said. “They’re going to be our transferrers of the knowledge.”

Seeing the youth represented so well was a big moment for the Isbister family. Isbister’s 92-year-old mother-in-law is a residential school survivor who saw her grandchild lead the parade and hold the reconciliation banner.

“That’s such an honour for him to be able to participate in that. It’s a learning opportunity,” she said.

The slogan for the event was “Ignite the Fire.” With new calls to action after the finding of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry, organizers are hoping to bring new life to reconciliation.

“I think it’s a reminder, and that’s why today is reigniting the fire,” Isbister said. “We want to get everyone excited again about reconciliation, about the calls to action.”