Winnipeg held annual Day of Action for residential school survivors | APTN News

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[00:00:02]On a hot spring morning, hundreds of people surrounded the Oda Celebration Circle at the Forks in Winnipeg in preparation for a walk to the Manitoba legislature. Today is National Action Day, the 19th since the first rally in 2007. And it falls 5 years after 215 potentially unmarked graves of residential school children were found in Cam Loops, BC. You know, reconciliations with 94 calls of action in this country is only in this 11th year, but we've seen progress.

[00:00:35]Then 5 years ago, they found 215 unmarked graves. But we knew these stories. I heard these stories.

[00:00:45]How children were not were never to go home.

[00:00:48]>> Several residential school survivors told their stories before the walk. The pain did not end when the schools closed.

[00:00:57]It lives in our families. It lives in our communities. And it lives in our spirits.

[00:01:06]But so does our strength. We are still here. We are still speaking our languages. We are still practicing our ceremonies.

[00:01:15]>> I lost my identity, my culture.

[00:01:22]and who I was.

[00:01:24]>> This year, supporters are being urged to sign an online petition aimed at keeping support for survivors intact. That's because the federal government said residential school survivor funding will be cut. Grand Chief Kyra Wilson of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs was one of the several leaders who met the walkers at the Manitoba legislature. The federal government has a duty and an obligation to support the work that is needed for our survivors. And we're not going to stop speaking about it.

[00:01:56]And even if we need to do as many walks, whether it's here or in Ottawa, wherever, we're going to get louder because when it comes to our grandmothers, our grandfathers, our families, we will always speak out against government when they don't put us as a priority.

[00:02:16]>> The petition is available to sign in person or online. There's over 500 people in support as of now with a goal of getting over 500,000 signatures. For APTN National News, I'm Kira Stevens in Winnipeg. Thanks to my