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Residential school reconciliation walks draws thousands in Vancouver

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Dr. Bernice King, left, daughter of U.S. civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., greets a member of the Squamish First Nation wearing a traditional hat during the Walk for Reconciliation in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday September 22, 2013. The walk wrapped up a week Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada events in the city. From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 aboriginal children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools in an attempt to assimilate them into Canadian society. They were prohibited from speaking their languages or participating in cultural practices. The commission was created as part of a billion class action settlement in 2006 - the largest in Canadian history - between the government, churches and 90,000 surviving students. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER – Thousands of people braved a pouring rain in Vancouver to take part in a reconciliation walk marking the sad history of residential schools in Canada.

Bernice King, the youngest daughter of American civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a keynote speech to the crowd.

King says the commission and the march are an important step toward this country realizing its full potential, through inclusion of aboriginal and all members of society.

The walk through downtown Vancouver came at the end of a week of hearings by the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The fact-finding commission is part of a settlement between the Canadian government, victims and various churches who operated the schools — the last of which closed its doors in 1996.

The gathering in Vancouver is the sixth of seven gatherings across the country, and will culminate in a final event in Edmonton next year, and a final report by the commission.

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The Canadian Press

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