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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 - Sept 30
In-Person 5K Run/Walk options
9/29 - Arizona - 1161 W Silverlake Road, Tucson, AZ 85713
(parking lot for the river path that has bathrooms and water)
7:30AM PDT
Rising Hearts is hosting our third virtual September 30th 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 September 30th 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!
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.
EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
September 30th – What is it?
September 30th is Orange Shirt day – Every Child Matters.
The annual Orange Shirt Day on September 30th opens the door to global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an opportunity to create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and the legacy they have left behind. A discussion all Canadians can tune into and create bridges with each other for reconciliation. A day for survivors to be reaffirmed that they matter, and so do those that have been affected. Every Child Matters, even if they are an adult, from now on.
The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.
To learn more, visit www.orangeshirtday.org
TRIGGER WARNING:
We are the first peoples of these lands that were stolen from us. We are continuously ignored, mistreated and devalued. When we talk about the history of this country and continent, that begins with Indigenous history. Our families were murdered, raped, molested, enslaved, sterilized, abused, experimented on, stolen from our families, forced to never speak our languages, forced to pick a Christian name, their hair was cut, forced to fulfill “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” beliefs of these colonial systems, and discarded. Our families were forced into these Boarding/Residential schools - ripped from their families, and the 5,296 Indigenous children just found, are from mass burial graves found across the lands and plenty more properties to be searched - were meant to erase us through cultural genocide in a different way. Families never having closure. Families unable to have their children be buried ceremonially and traditionally with their communities. Stories from Boarding/Residential school survivors are heartbreaking - experiencing so much and many tried to escape the horrors that happened on those grounds. Families would often move their tipi / home near to where the schools were. This has contributed to the intergenerational trauma we experience today. We have to also not just call this colonization and genocide, but has to be connected to the doctrine of discovery and religion – as many of these schools were led by Churches. Those working for the church and these schools, many are still alive today that we must call for accountability and justice. So far, their identity is being protected.
WE ARE WORTHY!
We are the first caretakers of these lands that were stolen from us. We’ve been forgotten and still forgotten from most of the conversations, even today. It’s slowly getting better but being an advocate myself, we still feel like an after thought. Our injustice and pain doesn’t get included in the topics of injustice and pain. We exist. Our pain is real. And it has to stop. We deserve to THRIVE - not survive. More will be found. Speak up! We are fighting for accountability and healing. We need mental health support services. Hoping some good comes out of the Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative too. This intersects with MMIR! Prayers up, tobacco down for our relatives - for our communities.
SOME FACTS for CONTEXT:
- Over 376 schools in the U.S.
- Over 100 residential schools in Canada
- To this day, over 10,000 children have been unearthed
- Recently, 9 children, were brought home to the Rosebud Indian Reservation from the Carlisle Indian Boarding School. This effort was led by youth and community the last few years, to bring their relative’s home.
- These schools existed in Canada, U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia, and more countries and communities.
• 1-866-925-4419 for CAN Residential Boarding School Crisis Hotline
• 306-522-7494 (Treaty 4 territory)
GET INVOLVED, LEARN, AND TAKE ACTION:
Webinars to Watch:
Healing Through Indigenous Mindfulness and Neurodecolonization
Indian Boarding School Cemeteries and Missing Children
Beyond Historical Trauma: Indigenous Traditions Lead the Pathway to Resilience and Healing
#TruthAndHealing: The Movement and the Commission
Canada: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report
Call to Action:
Support Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation in the U.S.
NABS has ways for you to support:
Join the Coalition, Sign petitions, Make a donation, Sign up for e-news.
Take Specific Action: For Churches, For Survivors and Descendants, For Teachers, and For Community Allies.
Visit: www.OnCanadaProject.ca/SettlersTakeAction
PODCASTS TO LISTEN TO:
Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo (And Alberta) by Connie Walker on CBC Original
Canada’s Darkest Secret: Residential Schools by Behind the Bastards on Google Podcasts
American Indian Boarding Schools, Hashtag History, Episode 43
STOLEN: Surviving St. Michael's by Connie Walker on Spotify
BOOKS TO READ:
As Long as the River Flows by Larry Loyle
When I was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
Daughter of Suqua by Diane Johnston Hamm
My Name is Not Easy by Debbie Dalh Edwardson
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
My name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
No Parole Today by Laura Tohe
Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle
Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell
Broken Circle by Theodore Fontaine
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Orange Shirt Day by Phyllis Webstad
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
I am not a number by Jenny Kay Dupuis
The Land is our Storybook by Julie-Anne Andre & Mindy Willett
WATCH:
Vice TV “Indigenous Peoples in Canadian Residential Schools
FOLLOW AND SUPPORT
@nabshc / @reecreeations / @illuminative / @shayla0h / @mumilaaq / @sovereignbodies / @rising_hearts (visit Boarding Schools highlight) / @nativein_la (visit highlights and IG Live conversations) / @native_women_running
Follow hashtags: #WearOrange / #EveryChildMatters / #LetThemBeHeard / #BringThemHome/ #NoPrideInGenocide
TRACKING YOUR DISTANCE
4 laps on a track = 1 Mile
12.5 laps on a track = 5K
25 laps on a track = 10K
Treadmill
MapMyRun.com
Find a Certified USATF Course
Some run/walk events display course maps at elitefeats.com
Many parks have measured 'fitness' trails open to the public
Download free app Strava & hit 'Record'
QUESTIONS
Email [email protected]
VIRTUAL HOW TO
1. Run/walk whenever & wherever you'd like!
2. Starting on the event date go to the results link at the top of this page.
3. Search for your name - click Update.
4. Enter your time.
5. OPTIONAL upload up to 5 photos!
#efVirtual
WHEN TO POST
EARLY REGISTRANTS (before start day) can start posting times ON start day!
LATE REGISTRANTS (after start day) allow up to 24 hours to post times.