'My heart is with the children': Cross-country walk honours residential school victims
Jasmine Lavallee is walking across Western Canada in honour of the 215 bodies found in an unmarked grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
"I tried to ignore it - as ignorant as that sounds - but I knew that 215 would be the number to break my heart. So the more I tried to ignore it, the more I saw it," said the 38-year-old. "It broke my heart, I found myself crying when I was like alone. When I had personal time, I was weeping for these children that I didn't even know. So I knew it affected me hard."
On her back for the entire walk is a pack filled with children’s moccasins, wrapped in an orange sheet and adorned with ribbons. People along the route have been offering them to her to carry to Kamloops.
"They are very well respected and honoured. We treat them like children, we treat them like a baby on board with us. They never leave our side," explained Lavallee. "We're always tending to them, we talk to them, when I say tending to them I mean like when we smudge, the moccasins are smudged with us every day."
Lavallee began her walk at the site of the former Assiniboine Residential School in Winnipeg and says she took the millionth step of her journey in Saskatchewan. She had planned to arrive in Kamloops on Oct 16, but on Tuesday, as she hit the road outside Bassano, Alta., she now says it will be another month before she completes her journey
"It's been nothing but positive support and just messages from everybody across Canada telling us to keep going."
Lavallee was born with dislocated hips and her mother was told she would likely be in a wheelchair for life. Having overcome that early physical setback is one reason Lavallee felt walking to remember the children buried in Kamloops was an important task to undertake
"I surprised a lot of people I guess in my early years," said Lavallee. "I learned to walk before I crawled and now here I am going to be going across the country from Winnipeg through to Kamloops."
Lavallee, along with her small group of supporters, say they are walking on behalf of all survivors of abuse.
She hopes the walk will shine a light on the impacts of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.
"I want to keep that awareness going, you know, let people know what happened, talk about it, chat about it, don't let it die out. So we can have a better tomorrow for the children because that's where it's gonna start, with the little ones," said Lavallee. "If we are honest with them and we treat them with respect you'll see a different tomorrow. I truly believe that my heart is with the children."
For the latest on Lavallee's walk, visit the 215+ I Wanna Come Home Facebook page
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
NEW Where to watch the state funeral for former prime minister Brian Mulroney
A state funeral for former prime minister Brian Mulroney will be held in Montreal on March 23. CTV News will have live special coverage of his funeral service.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
NEW High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.