By rdnewsNOW staff

Walk For Common Ground

15-day walk of action for First Nations issues

May 29, 2019 | 10:26 AM

A group of 30 health-care professionals, members of the faith community, school division leaders and Indigenous members will begin a 15-day walk later this month.

The walk starts this Friday, May 31 in Edmonton and includes a stop in Red Deer, Maskwacis, Lacombe, Ponoka, Bowden, Innisfail and Olds on its way to Calgary.

“It is important for non-Indigenous people to truly appreciate the privileges we have gathered because Indigenous nations allowed our ancestors to share this land,” said Scott MacDougall, a mental-health therapist at St. Therese-St. Paul Healthcare Centre in St. Paul, Alta., and a member of the board of directors of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA).

“It is important that we recognize that our well-being has come at a cost to the descendants of those original Treaty makers that welcomed our ancestors here. We must all now apply our minds coherently and cooperatively to building a different relational model.”

doubled in federal budget 2024

Increase to volunteer fire fighter tax credit lauded by Penhold fire chief

6h ago

a new lease on life

Habitat for Humanity Red Deer completes 50th home build

6h ago

MORE FOR RED DEER

Provincial government investing more in youth mental health

10h ago

To that end HSAA, the union that represents about 26,000 health-care professionals, has tasked its Social Justice Committee to connect with other like-minded faith groups, citizens and Indigenous leaders to begin facilitating this dialogue for change.

“It’s not enough to talk about truth and reconciliation, it has become a social, economic and environmental imperative that we actually do something to create a solution,” he said.

Embarking on The Walk for Common Ground, the core group of 30 walkers will stop at communities every night, sleeping in churches, colleges and community centres.

The group will visit St. Leonard’s Anglican Church in Red Deer on June 7.

Stops along the tour will begin with smudging ceremonies and end with a presentation of the documentary Treaty Talk: Sharing the River of Life, which will be followed by a talking circle to reflect on the impact of the film and determine how each individual can contribute to a more meaningful change in in our relationship with First Nations.

(HSAA)