Man walks across the prairies to stand with Standing Rock

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Williams started from Edmonton the morning of Nov. 1. He walked to Vermillion and was picked up by a car which drove him to North Battleford where he stayed at the Lighthouse Shelter. Late next morning he reached the outskirts of Saskatoon and was heading for Regina. To survive the long trip, he packed food for the road and camping gear to sleep in the ditch if he doesn’t make it to another town between highways.

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“Right now I’m just surviving how my people did hundreds of years ago, by going and keeping this spirit in me and the soul in me strong and knowing that there’s people behind me even if they’re not with me,” he said.

Worried about not being able to cross the U.S. border, considering the reason he’s travelling, Williams wants to at least let Standing Rock know he tried. He said takes strength from his Aboriginal background to keep him moving forward.

“There was a time in Alberta when I was walking where I just wanted to stop. My body was hurting, my mindset wasn’t there. I pulled to the ditch and I smudged my sweet grass and my sage and somehow was able to get a little bit of extra strength and go out and go farther,” he said. “I truly believe that if people feel it inside them and it makes you emotional, it makes you whatever that if you feel like you can go, then go.”

With the rides Williams received, he made it roughly a third of the way to his destination in just two days. He initially expected it to be a 15-day trip.

“Our people have always just tried so it’s time to do that,” he said.

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @ksvenkeson