Hundreds of runners and walkers gathered at Edmonton’s Kinsmen Park on Sunday for the Orange Shirt Run & Walk, an event that combines physical activity, education and community reflection ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The sixth annual event, organized by the Indigenous Runners Alliance, also featured educational activities, live drumming and singing, a round dance, food trucks and vendors, as well as a tree, shrub and wildflower giveaway. Centred on the message “Every Child Matters” and reconciliation in action, the event was held ahead of Wednesday’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honours residential school survivors, their families and the children who never returned home. Anita Cardinal of the Indigenous Runners Alliance said reconciliation is a shared journey rather than a destination, and one that requires daily action from everyone. “It is about bringing people together in truth and well-being to honour our little ancestors who did not make it home from residential schools, and to honour the survivors and our communities,” Cardinal told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s about movement as medicine.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Noah Rishaug
