Walk for reconciliation draws thousands to downtown Ottawa

An estimated 7,000 to 10,000people walkedthroughdowntown Ottawa-Gatineau in an effort to "transform and renew" the relationship between Aboriginal Peoples and other Canadians as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada prepares to release its final report on Tuesday.

"It's a dark chapter in Canada's history, no question. It was cultural genocide," saidNational Chief Perry Bellegarde, head of the Assembly of First Nations, who took part in the walk on Sunday.

"There's a lot of young ones that didn't come home to their families, communities. There's a lot of death there. We've got to remember and honour those [deaths], that we learn from that and honour their spirits."

The commission, struck in 2009, has been writing an exhaustive history of the residential school system. The commissioners interviewed more than7,000 people across the countryand the final report, which is expected to be released on June 2, will span six volumes and more thantwo million words.

At least 6,000 aboriginal children died while in the residential school system, according tocommission chairJusticeMurraySinclair, though poor record-keeping has made an exact figure difficult to pinpoint.

Bellegarde said there's a lot of rebuilding to doandmany stories left to tell.

"The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is six, seven years of listening to the truth and even though it's part of their closing ceremonies, it really is the beginning ofrebuilding the relationship between First Nations, non-First Nations peoples in Canada," he said.

"That's what this walk is all about. We have to tell the truth. The truth has to be told."

'We walk together'

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who address the crowd at City Hall, said about 7,000 people made the walk. Justice Sinclair, meanwhile,estimated that about 10,000 people showed up.

Chief Robert Joseph, who attended residential school andhelped create the organizationReconciliation Canada, saidSunday that he had been waiting to take part in Sunday'swalk for a long time.

"I never, ever envisioned that this would happen, that thousands of people would gather to give expression to the idea that we are all one," Joseph said.

"And that includes me, somebody who was so terribly beat up in these residential schools that I felt absolutely worthless, no purpose in my life. And now here I am and I see all this humanity, and I'm inspired to my soul that people care enough to come out and walk with us today. And we walk together," he said.

"We're going to create and define Canada in a way that it should have been defined in the first place: inclusive, equal, just, compassionate, all those wonderful words we subscribe to all the time."

'It's about forgiveness and restoring Canada'

People came from many parts ofCanada to takepart in the walk, including Bernadette Dean from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She attendedAkaitcho Hall residential school in Yellowknife, she said.

"It's really good because, to me, it's about forgiveness and restoring Canada. I know [the commission]collected a lot of testimonies and I hope something good comes out of it," Dean said.

Dorene Bernard, whocame from theIndian Brook 14 reserve inNova Scotia, said three generations of her family went to residential schools.

"I wanted to be part of history, the closing of the [commission], and to walk for survivors and all my relatives from the east that attended residential schools," Bernard said.

Closing ceremonies end Wednesday

Sunday's walk wasone of many events taking place from Sunday to Wednesdayas part of aclosing ceremony for the commission.

The 4.7-kilometre walk crossed the Ottawa River along the Portage Bridge, passed Parliament Hill and the National War Memorial, andended at Ottawa City Hall on Elgin Street.

The CBC'sWaubgeshig Ricecoveredthe walk, and you can check out his tweets below.

Other events scheduled for the weekinclude sharing circles, archival displays, film screenings and educational sessions.

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