Sacred walkers pass through Yorkton

A group of First Nations people walking from Stanley Mission to Ottawa passed through Yorkton Sunday. Local Idle No More supporters met the walkers at Hwy 16 and Gladstone Avenue and joined them for a march to City Centre Park where they held a ceremony.

Bruce McKenzie, one of the organizers of the trek, explained the mission-dubbed the Sacred Journey for Future Generations-is an attempt to convince the federal government to rescind Bill C-45, the second budget implementation legislation, which indigenous people say is unconstitutional because it impacts Aboriginal rights without consultation.

"We have to stand up for mother Earth," he said. "The plants don't have a voice, the animals don't have a voice, the fish don't have a voice. We have to be their voice."

Chief Leonard Keshane of the Keesekoose First Nation said he was impressed that the goal of the journey was not the benefit of the walkers themselves, but of unborn generations. "It is a privilege to do something for someone else," he said.

The group is hoping to arrive in Ottawa in time for National Aboriginal Day, June 21.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called these kinds of missions "stunts" and is adamant he will not be swayed by them.

Cote Princess Rene Shingoose, who has been at the forefront of the local Idle No More movement since it began is not discouraged by Harper's stance.

"I think there is great hope," she said. The grassroots movement won't let down and we don't stop until we are heard. Harper may not be listening, however, others are."