MKE - EVERY CHILD MATTERS WALK - The Untold Story of Milwaukee's Indian Boarding School
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SAVE THE DATE - More details to follow
Join us for the Walk of Awareness—a Call To Action to confront the painful legacy of the Milwaukee Indian Boarding School, which operated for 101 years in Milwaukee, WI. This is more than a walk—it is a movement to uncover the truths about the forced assimilation, cultural erasure, and generational trauma endured by our ancestors. We honor the past generations of boarding school students with awareness, strength and resilience.
If you don't know your family boarding school story, this event will help make what happened in Milwaukee a story we all inherit.
By participating in this Walk of Awareness, we create opportunities for physical, mental and spiritual expressions that can help us deal with the legacy of historic traumas. Many of challenges facing us as individuals and community can be traced directly to the boarding schools era, a time of the forced removal of Native American children from their homes. The children that survived are our ancestors, and those that did not survive deserve our notice.
Trauma can be passed by down by inherited behaviors of abuse learned at the schools, and we recognize that trauma can also change human DNA across lifetimes. To address generational trauma, we must learn about origins because in order to heal, we must know the wound.
Our journey begins at 6:45 a.m. with a Sunrise Ceremony, followed by a Water Ceremony, as we set our intentions for healing, truth-telling & reconciliation. We are asking for our runners to cover the initial 6 miles, relay-style. The pace will be between 8:30 and 10 minutes a mile. When runners arrive at our rendezvous point, we will walk the rest of the way, 7 miles relay style, along sidewalks & roadways, carrying the Eagle Staff and the Every Child Matters flag.
The day begins w/a run from the burial site of many of the girls, Native American students that died while in the custody of the boarding school. The second phase of our event will be a walk from where the runners will meet with walkers and we will continue to the Indian Community School. No one is expected to run or walk the entire distance as the run and walk will be relay style.
Whether you walk a few steps or a few miles, every step represents a collective commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.
Once arrived, we will gather at the pole outside the main doors of the Indian Community School and share an interdenominational prayer, along with prayers done in the first language of the girls sent to the school. Our third phase will be to share some food, be in conversation with each other, and then adjourn to a space dedicated to learning more about the boarding school and the girls who attended.
Walkers are expected to arrive at Indian Community School by 11:30am. If you're unable to join the full walk, we encourage you to meet us at the school as community greets the runners and walkers - after the light meal we will have informational programming and afterwards, a lacrosse game to bring people together.
Let us strengthen our bonds as a community.
We need your support! Whether by walking, sponsoring, or simply spreading the word, your involvement is crucial to ensuring these stories are no longer hidden, but serve as a catalyst for change.
All are welcome—please note that no dogs are permitted at the event site of the Indian Community School. See less
Franklin, Wisconsin
Join us for the Walk of Awareness—a Call To Action to confront the painful legacy of the Milwaukee Indian Boarding School, which operated for 101 years in Milwaukee, WI. This is more than a walk—it is a movement to uncover the truths about the forced assimilation, cultural erasure, and generational trauma endured by our ancestors. We honor the past generations of boarding school students with awareness, strength and resilience.
If you don't know your family boarding school story, this event will help make what happened in Milwaukee a story we all inherit.
By participating in this Walk of Awareness, we create opportunities for physical, mental and spiritual expressions that can help us deal with the legacy of historic traumas. Many of challenges facing us as individuals and community can be traced directly to the boarding schools era, a time of the forced removal of Native American children from their homes. The children that survived are our ancestors, and those that did not survive deserve our notice.
Trauma can be passed by down by inherited behaviors of abuse learned at the schools, and we recognize that trauma can also change human DNA across lifetimes. To address generational trauma, we must learn about origins because in order to heal, we must know the wound.
Our journey begins at 6:45 a.m. with a Sunrise Ceremony, followed by a Water Ceremony, as we set our intentions for healing, truth-telling & reconciliation. We are asking for our runners to cover the initial 6 miles, relay-style. The pace will be between 8:30 and 10 minutes a mile. When runners arrive at our rendezvous point, we will walk the rest of the way, 7 miles relay style, along sidewalks & roadways, carrying the Eagle Staff and the Every Child Matters flag.
The day begins w/a run from the burial site of many of the girls, Native American students that died while in the custody of the boarding school. The second phase of our event will be a walk from where the runners will meet with walkers and we will continue to the Indian Community School. No one is expected to run or walk the entire distance as the run and walk will be relay style.
Whether you walk a few steps or a few miles, every step represents a collective commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.
Once arrived, we will gather at the pole outside the main doors of the Indian Community School and share an interdenominational prayer, along with prayers done in the first language of the girls sent to the school. Our third phase will be to share some food, be in conversation with each other, and then adjourn to a space dedicated to learning more about the boarding school and the girls who attended.
Walkers are expected to arrive at Indian Community School by 11:30am. If you're unable to join the full walk, we encourage you to meet us at the school as community greets the runners and walkers - after the light meal we will have informational programming and afterwards, a lacrosse game to bring people together.
Let us strengthen our bonds as a community.
We need your support! Whether by walking, sponsoring, or simply spreading the word, your involvement is crucial to ensuring these stories are no longer hidden, but serve as a catalyst for change.
All are welcome—please note that no dogs are permitted at the event site of the Indian Community School. See less
Franklin, Wisconsin
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Where is it happening?
Indian Community School, 10405 W St Martins Rd, Franklin, WI 53132-2421, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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