Jazz Lavallee walks toward the Saamis Tepee for a small gathering in the middle of her walk across Canada in memory of the 215 children buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Janette Fischer is one of the other four people following Lavallee on her journey. The 38-year-old left Manitoba on Sept. 1 and will walk until she reaches the former residential school site.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Jazz Lavallee is walking across Canada with a heavy backpack and an even heavier heart.
The 38-year-old is walking from the former Assiniboia Residential School in Winnipeg to Kamloops in honour of the 215 bodies found in mass graves at the former Indian Residential School in May. She said upon hearing about the children’s bodies recovered, she was filled with anger and her feet burned so hot she could not cool them.
She asked a family friend, Virgil Moar, what she should do and he told her to put her anger toward something that will make a difference.
“I was mad about these kids,” Lavallee said. “I was so angry and so hurt.”
That’s when she realized why her feet were burning; she had to walk to B.C.
Lavallee was born with dislocated hips and spent the first year-and-a-half of her life in a half-body cast. Her mother was told she would likely be in a wheelchair for life. She’s been told she learned to walk before she could crawl, which is why she felt she should walk to help remember the children buried in Kamloops.
She wanted to start her walk immediately but had another friend tell her to wait until September first, when kids went back to school. She hit her millionth step somewhere in Saskatchewan, and her and the other four people on the walk have shared their story and learned many more from people along the way.
“A lot of people, survivors, non-survivors, people of all ethnicity pull over. It seems like every 10-20 minutes we’re stopping to chat with people,” she said. “Survivors come, but also people who say, ‘We didn’t two this happened here in our own home,’ so that’s where we kick in for the awareness.”
Their original plan was to be in Kamloops for Oct. 16, but having just reached that halfway point in Medicine Hat, she says it will likely be another month or more.
As Lavallee walks alongside Moar, who joined her on the journey, she carries a backpack filled with moccasins wrapped in an orange sheet and ribbon. She asked people for moccasins before she left and the first pair she received was from a man from Kamloops whose father was in the residential school.
“My mother looked at me and said if you need another reason to do it, this is it.”
She’s received other pairs from all over Manitoba and they pull them out at residential schools and cemeteries they stop at to honour the children lost, before they leave promptly at 2:15 to further reflect on the children buried in Kamloops.
“Every pair came with an imprint, every pair has a story, every pair carried a life,” Lavallee said.
She says the bag of moccasins was light to begin the walk but suddenly got heavy as she entered Medicine Hat because of a hallucination she had.
“I saw ancestors on the hills, they were on horses, it was amazing. But as soon as I passed those hills this pack became very heavy, it was like someone added 20 bricks. We had to pull over and I laid down and I fell asleep for two-and-a-half hours. I don’t know if I just absorbed all of the energy walking and it kicked me in the butt,” Lavallee said.
Her group stopped in the city on Tuesday for a few days rest before getting back to walking today. They had a room donated by the friendship centre and a stranger from Winnipeg. She hopes people continue talking about the survivors and those lost in residential schools and not let the conversation die.
“The journey comes to a halt when I get to Kamloops. The steps stop for a moment, I re-group myself and I try to figure out what I can do to pursue helping. My hearts with children, I truly believe this earth no longer belongs to you or me, we had our moment. Now we have to make it better for the children,” she said.
