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Minnesota Now with Nina Moini
Nina Moini and Alanna Elder

Minneapolis-based running group remembers Native boarding schools

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People in orange shirts pose for a group photo with a Native Women Run banner.
Minneapolis-based Native Women Running organizes virtual and in-person runs to honor First Nations children who died at residential schools in Canada and raise awareness of the painful legacy of Native American boarding schools in the U.S.
Courtesy of Native Women Running

A Minnesota-based organization is leading its fifth-annual run on Sept. 30 to recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. The day was created to honor Indigenous children who died at residential schools as well as survivors of the institutions, where they suffered abuse and forced separation from their families and cultures. Similar boarding schools existed in the United States.

People in both countries wear orange shirts in remembrance each Sept. 30. Verna NezBegay Volker started the Run for the 215 event in 2021. She’s from the Navajo Nation and founder and executive director of Native Women Running. MPR News host Nina Moini talked to her about five years of the event.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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