Warrior Walkers arrive in Whitehorse, completing 600-kilometre journey

There were some cold and tiring days, but Yukon's Warrior Walkers made it to Whitehorse in time for Saturday's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation events.

The group left Dawson City on Sunday, to make the roughly 600-kilometre trek down the highway to Whitehorse (with a side excursion to Mayo). Different people would join for different portions of the journey that's meant to honour and raise awareness of the children who died at residential schools in Canada.

"We had laughter, we had tears, we had prayers, we had smudges, we had, you know, amazing conversations with survivors that came and shared their stories with us," said Corinna Yuill, who walked most of the distance this week.

"We had just the open highway where these little birdies would come and play with us on the side of the road, and we all had that same feeling from these birds ... the children were joining us, they were with us, and they were being celebrated and remembered."

The Warrior Walkers formed in 2021 when a handful of Yukoners decided to embark on a 2,100-kilometre walk from Whitehorse to Kamloops, B.C.

Ashley Russell, a Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin citizen, joined the walkers on Friday as they were approaching Whitehorse. She said she had stayed up into the wee hours the night before creating a baby belt.

"This baby belt is to signify a safe space for me to carry all of our children that never were, the babies that could have been but never were," she told CBC News on Friday.

"I've been involved in helping with the ground scans and with residential school survivors and when I heard about this walk... I knew I had to be a part of it." 

On Saturday, the walkers planned to cover the last bit of distance through Whitehorse, ending at the totem pole at the base of Main Street, where there will be a gathering to mark the national day of truth and reconciliation.

Yuill hopes to be out walking again next year, and possibly more years to come. She said there is "a lot of highway to cover" in the Yukon, and the goal is to connect with people in every community, because none have been untouched by the legacy of residential schools.

She says they're thinking about the Dempster Highway for next year. 

She calls the walks "a positive way of healing."

"This brings people out to speak with us, to get in touch with our culture, with drumming, with sacred fires, with prayer, with gathering, with talking ... it's hard not to think about doing a walk every year."

"It's not about us, walking. It's for the children, it's for the survivors and their family. So anybody can walk with us."