On Saturday, September 30 between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., the St. Adolphe Friendship Trail Volunteer Group (FTVG) will host a Truth and Reconciliation Day event in honour of residential school survivors.
Gerry Lagasse is an active member in the FTVG and helps to maintain the site year-round. He also helps organize initiatives like group hikes, bonfires, and educational activities, including the annual Truth and Reconciliation Day events.
“The trail offers physical, mental, and spiritual well-being for our lovely community and all surrounding communities,” says Lagasse.
Lagasse says that everyone is invited to the trail north of St. Adolphe to take part in educational activities honouring truth and reconciliation as well as fun events intended to bring the community together.
There will be a scavenger hunt for the children, woodcarving, fiddling and guitar, hoop dancers, and a presentation of the Orange Shirt Story.
A Red River cart will be on display and the RCMP tipi will be set up with volunteers on hand to discuss the experiences and traditions of Indigenous people.
The Manitoba Métis Federation mobile unit will be on location for Métis citizenship registration and card renewal, as well as harvesters cards and tags available.
The St. Adolphe FTVG consists of five local seniors with a proud average age of “73 years young.” The group started the Friendship Trail in 2019 and, in response to Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report and its calls to reconciling acts for the future of Indigenous peoples in Canada, began to look for ways to tie in the beautiful riverside trail and the local history of the Métis in the Ritchot area.
The trail is a little over two kilometres long and is situated on the east side of the Red River north of St. Adolphe. There are four entrances along the trail, each of which are clearly marked with flags.
In 2022, the Friendship Trail secured a $2,000 grant from the David Suzuki Foundation Healing Forest Initiative. They also received a Nature Award from Recreation Manitoba in March 2023 for having being a bird and deer sanctuary and connecting the community to nature through activities and education.
