KNOW YOUR ROOTS MAP PROJECT
The first Rock Your Roots: Walk for Reconciliation happened in June 2016 and drew thousands of people to Victoria Park in Saskatoon to show their commitment for reconciliation. Countless community members came together to realize a vision of diverse peoples walking together and honouring Residential School Survivors, as well as showing pride in their own cultures by “rocking their roots” and wearing cultural regalia or painting signs identifying their ethnicity. We are especially grateful for the leadership and teachings from Residential School Survivors and Knowledge Keepers who informed every aspect of the event.
We were unable to walk together in 2020, but in 2021 we invite everyone to continue the annual tradition and Walk for Reconciliation on National Indigenous Peoples Day. While we can’t be together, we hope that people across Saskatoon will walk, honour Residential School Survivors, and reflect on the role they have to play in seeing truth and reconciliation become reality.
The Know Your Roots map project came from the Walk for Reconciliation organizing committee, who wanted to create a map of places around Saskatoon that speak to the process of reconciliation. Whether those locations are public art installations, sites of historical significance, renaming initiatives and/or unique Indigenous and non-Indigenous partnerships, we hope you visit these places, either on National Indigenous Peoples Day or following. This map will continue to evolve and grow over the next year, as we continue to add locations with the input of Indigenous youth, communities, Knowledge Keepers and Residential School Survivors.
DOWNLOAD THE BOOKLET: Know Your Roots MAP
Booklets are available at Saskatoon Public Libraries as well as other locations around the city.
Also part of Rock Your Roots this year:
- Watch Eugene Arcand share the history of the Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation
- Watch the online event on June 21 anytime that day
- Get the kids to make a birthday card for a Residential School Survivors and drop them off at City Hall (night drop box outside the main doors) by Friday June 18 at 5pm. For details find Lesson Plans here
**This project happened in partnership between Reconciliation Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Public Library. We are grateful to Reconciliation Saskatoon Youth Advocate Anastasia Hauser, the City of Saskatoon and to the Saskatoon Survivors Circle for shaping this project and bringing it to life.