SportMedBC’s RunWalk Coach Lynn Kanuka and Aboriginal RunWalk Manager Susan Meier had the privilege of participating in and supporting the inaugural Tears to Hope Relay Run on June 21-22, 2019 to honour and memorialize all Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls.
The first annual Tears to Hope Relay was the first step for the Tears to Hope Society to shine an even brighter light on the MMIWG. Their vision is to provide a healthy and safe community for Aboriginal women and girls, through inclusive activities that encourage health and wellness of the body and mind because ‘she is somebody’.
The relay began in Prince Rupert and Smithers, where each participant ran 10-kilometers in the 400-kilometre relay to Terrace, with participants carrying deerskin scrolls with messages of hope, passing them from runner to runner throughout the night mirroring the Indigenous way of transferring messages from village to village. Runners, families and dignitaries, including National Inquiry Commissioner, Michèle Audette, finished together in Terrace to celebrate life, hope and change on the weekend of National Indigenous People’s Day.
RunWalk Coach Lynn Kanuka, called it “an incredibly powerful and emotional experience.”
“Truly there are no words for the strength and focus on a movement to move forward, celebrating life and hope for change.”
SportMedBC would like to recognize Lorna Brown and Birgitte Bartlett, founders of the Tears to Hope Society, for putting on an incredible event on National Indigenous People’s Day.
For more information on the Tears to Hope Society and to see pictures from event day please visit the Tears to Hope Facebook page.
