A youth group of drummers leads the Orange Shirt Day walk at the PAGC grounds on Wednesday. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

Getting out to raise awareness

Orange Shirt Day makes powerful point in P.A.

Sep 30, 2020 | 4:21 PM

Multiple walks and runs took place around Prince Albert today to raise awareness for Orange Shirt Day, to honour the children who survived residential schools and remember those who did not.

Dancers participate in the Orange Shirt Day walk at the PAGC ground on Wednesday. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW staff)

Starting at 9 a.m, Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty, and members of the local Rotary Club began their trek around Rotary Trail, starting and finishing at the Alfred Jenkins Field House.

Lt.-Gov.Russ Mirasty, left, finishes a run around the Rotary trail with his son Matthew Mirasty, middle, and William Urton, right. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

“Recognizing today is Orange Shirt Day, to remember residential schools and continue that discussion will lead to a broader understanding,” Mirasty said. “The run today was to honour that.

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“On a personal level, I experienced residential schools. Right across the street from where we stand here,” Mirasty said. “There’s a lot of memories there for me. It is an important day, but a good day.”

While Mirasty and others were running around the city, a walk was held at the Prince Albert Grand Council grounds from 10 a.m. to noon.

An Elder says a prayer at the PAGC before the Orange Shirt Day walk began. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

George Mirasty, a resolution health support worker with the PAGC said at the event, the people who were at the walk were all somehow impacted by the residential schools, by either attending them or having family members who did.

A youth group of drummers from La Ronge play an honorary song before leading the walk around the grounds. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

Another special guest was able to make an appearance at the walk. Fred Sasakamoose, now 85, was the first Indigenous hockey player to join the NHL in 1953, for the Chicago Blackhawks. He surprised everyone by joining in on the walk.

Fred Sasakamoose makes a speech before joining the walk. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

“I went to a residential school for 10 years,” Sasakamoose told paNOW. “When I went to the Blackhawks I felt like a champion, and I feel like a champion walking with everybody here today.”

Fred Sasakamoose was the first Indigenous hockey player to play in the NHL after playing hockey at a residential school in Duck Lake. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

To see more about the event, visit the Prince Albert Grand Council Facebook page.

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dawson.thompson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: dawsonthompson8