AICHO runs for Ojibwe solidarity and collective healing

AICHO staff Kayla Jackson running alongside Gimaajii Mino Bimaadizimin youth carrying a cultural staff provided by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Photo by Ivy Vainio

On a hot Wednesday evening, a team made up of AICHO staff and Gimaajii Mino Bimaadizimin families came together to collectively run and walk 20 miles. Each step they took was a prayer to heal themselves as Indigenous people and stand in solidarity against racism and hatred directed towards Ojibwe people throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Their steps contributed towards the solidarity relay called The Healing Circle Run organized by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

AICHO staff Nicole Thole, Avery Makes Room For Them and Sasheen Goslin refueled with food sponsored by AICHO. The AICHO group was gifted eagle feathers to wear during their miles (as seen pinned on their shirts).

​The Healing Circle Run began in 1989 as a response to the escalated animosity towards Ojibwe people brought on by protests against tribes reasserting hunting, fishing, and gathering rights in the Ojibwe ceded territories of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The seven-day relay is a collective prayer to bring healing to participants, their families, reservations, the communities they pass through, the nation and the earth. Runners endure the long journey under the summer sun and heat, persevering through exhaustion. It is a sacrifice runners make to heal their loved ones and communities suffering from addiction, violence and untreated intergenerational, historical trauma.

The relay route connects 10 Ojibwe nations including Lac Du Flambeau, Mole Lake, Lac Vieux Desert, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Bad River, Red Cliff, Fond du Lac, Mille Lacs, St. Croix, and Lac Courte Oreilles, covering 600 miles. AICHO pledged and completed 20 miles on July 13, 2022, the fifth day of the relay in South Superior.

Sasheen holding her eagle feather fan.

AICHO says miigwech to staff member Sasheen Goslin who took the lead in organizing the team and its participation in the run. Miigwech to the Minnesota Department of Human Services and St. Louis County Public Health for their part in funding AICHO’s involvement.

AICHO staff Ivy Vainio ran wearing her ribbon skirt. Photo by Juliana Stoner

AICHO’s Dabinoo’Igan staff Jen Davey and Deanna Reder ran and walked 6.2 miles together. Photo by Ivy Vainio

Gimaajii Mino Bimaadizimin youth took turns holding the staff during the run.

After running a long ways, AICHO’s AmeriCorps VISTA member Julaian Stoner slowed down her pace and walked, all the while enjoying the nature around her.