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By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
MILLBROOK FIRST NATION, N.S.
A run/walk will once again be staged in a First Nation community in Nova Scotia in an effort to bring Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relationships closer together.
The second annual Ulnooweg Summer Solstice Run will be staged this Saturday at the Millbrook First Nation, located a few kilometres from the town of Truro, just off the Trans-Canada Highway. Millbrook has about 1,800 members, half of which live on the First Nation.
Event organizers started the race last year in an effort to invite non-Aboriginal people to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year (June 21) with a First Nation community. The date of June 21 also marks National Aboriginal Day across the country.
The inaugural run was held during the summer solstice, which happened to fall on a Tuesday. The event attracted 119 entrants.
In an effort to try and get more participants, however, organizers opted to stage the 2017 event on a weekend, instead of June 21, which is on a Wednesday this year.
The Ulnooweg Development Group, an Aboriginal financial institution, is once again organizing the event. The group has been providing business services and loans to Aboriginal entrepreneurs throughout Atlantic Canada since 1986.
Chris Googoo, Ulnooweg’s general manager, took up running with his wife about three years ago.
“I noticed how positive the running community was,” said Googoo, who has travelled to various races throughout Atlantic Canada with his wife during the past few years.
“There’s a positive atmosphere at races and you’re getting some physical activity as well.”
Googoo was looking to bring this type of experience to the Millbrook First Nation. And he was also keen to invite non-Aboriginal people to the First Nation in an effort to improve business relationships, and in some cases, introduce non-Aboriginals to an Aboriginal community and some Aboriginal culture.
He estimates about 20 per cent of last year’s competitors were non-Aboriginal people.
Googoo said he often hears comments from nearby residents who have said they have never even visited a First Nation.
“There’s a lot of great things on the reserve they should be taking advantage of,” said Angelina McMullin, another Ulnooweg employee who is helping out with the organizational details of the run/walk.
Competitors during the 2016 event included members from a pair of Aboriginal running clubs from the Millbrook First Nation called the Running Rez Chicks and the Running Rez Kids.
“The running programs didn’t operate this year,” Googoo said.
As a result, Googoo is not sure if this year’s race will grow much, in terms of participation numbers.
“I’m hoping to at least match last year’s numbers,” he said.
Several dozen people had signed up as of early this week. And Googoo is hoping quite a few more participants will also register prior to the event.
“Usually there’s an influx of registrations the last week,” he said.
Though they had set the date for this year’s event first, McMullin said organizers of the Millbrook event have to compete with a memorial run the same day in Gore, N.S. That event is being held in honour of an Indigenous man who died and is expected to attract many Aboriginal runners from across the province.
In an effort to give competitors more choices at the Ulnooweg Summer Solstice Run, a couple of new events have been added this year.
Last year only a five-kilometre course was offered, for runners and walkers.
A 10-kilometre race has been added for runners only this year. And there will also be a 2K event, for those ages 12 and under.
All entrants are invited to stick around afterwards to enjoy a social breakfast, where pancakes will be served.
“I’ve been trying to make it a fun event,” Googoo said. “It’s still considered a new run and we’re still learning things.”
Proceeds from the event will go towards mental health initiatives.
Ulnooweg officials are also keen to expand their run to other provinces as well.
To that end, the inaugural 5K Summer Solstice Run will be held this year in Flat Bay, Nfld. The event, open to runners and walkers of all ages, is scheduled for July 14.
There are also plans in the works for Ulnooweg to expand the run to sites in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island for 2018.
Googoo has also issued a challenge to other Aboriginal groups to start up summer solstice runs in other parts of the country as well.