Remembrance Run to honour Kuper Island Children

Hi there,

 

my name is Jaxxen Wylie and I carry the traditional name Si-alh-tun. My great grandmother attended Indian Residential School at the Kuper Island School, where recently evidence of the bodies of over 160 children were discovered in unmarked graves. These residential schools were policy implementation tools of the Canadian government with the goals of removing Indigenous culture and practices, and manifested as a form of genocide (as per the United Nations Conventions on the Definitions of Genocide).

 

As such, from September 14-30 I will be running 10

Kilometres per day, for a total of 170 km, to honour the sacred lives of the children who did not make it home from Kuper Island. My final run will take place on September the 30th (the Canadian National day for truth and reconciliation) where I will run to the BC legislature.

 

Any proceeds raised through this effort will be donated in their entirety to language revitalization efforts for indigenous children under the guidance of Elders and knowledge keepers from my community here on Vancouver Island.

 

My goal is to do my part to support cultural revitalization that is being done through teaching younger generations Their language, cultural practices, and the sacredness of themselves.

 

hytch’qa - thank you,

 

Jaxxen Wylie - Si-alh-tun