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When they buried the children
What they didn’t know
They were lovingly embraced by the land.
Held and cradled in a mother’s heart.
The trees wept for them, with the wind.
They sang mourning songs their mothers didn’t know to sing.
Bending branches to touch the earth around them.
The Creator cried for them, the tears falling like rain.
Mother Earth held them until they could be found.
Now our voices sing the mourning songs. With the trees. The wind.
Light sacred fire - ensure they are never forgotten, as we sing justice.
- Abigail Echo Hawk

EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATE!

VIRTUAL Participants can upload times & photos Sept 27 - Oct 1

In-Person 5K Run/Walk options

9/27 - Colorado - Prospect Lake (South Side Parking Lot)
619 Prospect Lake Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80910
Run Lead: Mark Moya, Rising Hearts Charity Runner
Distance: 5K
8:00AM MDT

9/28 - Arizona - 1161 W Silverlake Road, Tucson, AZ 85713
(Meet in the trailhead parking lot for access to the river path)
Distance: 5K run/ walk along the Santa Cruz River Path.
Cold drinks and refreshments post-movement for everyone.
7:30AM PDT

Rising Hearts is hosting our fourth virtual October 1st 5K Remembrance Run for #OrangeShirtDay and #EveryChildMatters – remembering and honoring the thousands of Indigenous children stolen from their families and homelands, forced into Boarding and Residential Schools, and the survivors, and descendants. To date, over 10,000 Indigenous children have been unearthed from Boarding and Residential school properties.  This injustice, rooted in colonialism and intersects with missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, and the need to conquer, led to policies of genocide, forced removal, diseases, theft of lands and bodies, as well as the quote and policy that started the boarding schools – “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” This was a policy to colonize and force Indigenous peoples to become civilized, strip them of their culture, their language, their traditions, and their Indigenous names – having to choose a Christian name.  This run is to honor and remember this history that doesn’t get the visibility it needs, to shine light on the injustice that continues to take place, to build community and allyship, and to call for justice, accountability, healing, and to bring all relatives back to their communities by searching all boarding and residential school properties.

What significance does the color orange and October 1st have?
Phyllis Webstad (Orange Shirt Society) was 6 years old when she was about to start at the residential school she was attending - all excited for school, her grandmother bought her a brand new, pretty orange shirt to wear to school.  Once Phyllis arrived at the residential school, her clothing was stripped from her and her hair was cut. The color orange reminds Phyllis of her experiences at the residential school and  in her own words on what it reminded her of, "how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.” September 30th is the day that Indigenous children were stolen from their families and forced into the schools at the start of the school year. This day and color, commemorates the legacy and trauma of the boarding and residential schools. 

We have a big goal – to give back in a big way! 

Let's continue to build community. Let's show up in whatever way we can. Let's support those survivors, their families, the advocates, and work towards ending inter-generational trauma so our never generations can THRIVE.

Upload your times & photos 9/27 - 10/1

BENEFICIARIES

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

“The time for healing, is now.” Their mission is to lead in the pursuit of understanding and addressing the ongoing trauma created by the U.S. Indian Boarding School policy. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) was incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit in June 2012 under the laws of the Navajo Nation. They are the only U.S. based non-profit focused on this work. NABS was created to develop and implement a national strategy that increases public awareness and cultivates healing for the profound trauma experienced by individuals, families, communities, American Indian and Alaska Native Nations resulting from the U.S. adoption and implementation of the Boarding School Policy of 1869.

NABS supports the Federal Indian Boarding School investigation and calls for a Congressional Truth Commission – READ HERE

Indian Residential School Survivors Society

We at the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) strive to provide physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual growth, development, and healing through culturally-based values and guiding principles for Survivors, Families, and Communities. We at the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) strive to provide physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual growth, development, and healing through culturally-based values and guiding principles for Survivors, Families, and Communities.