HEALING CIRCLE RUN BRINGS TRIBAL NATIONS TOGETHER FOR HEALING AND UNITY
Participants of the Mille Lacs Band 2025 Healing Circle Run
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
The Healing Circle Run is a prayer for healing. It is an opportunity to pray for healing for ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation, Aki and all our relatives. This seven-day run connects 10 tribal nations throughout the Ojibwe Ceded Territory. This annual event was held the week of July 14 with the Mille Lacs Band participating on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
The event stems from the aftermath of vicious protests against the Ojibwe people exercising treaty rights in Wisconsin beginning in 1986 – 1989, according to the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) website. Spearers and families were subjected to racial slurs and harassing comments. The mood was ugly. The voices of racial hatred stayed fresh in the mind of Ernie St. Germaine of Lac du Flambeau when he traveled to Lac Vieus Desert to run in the New World Run in March of 1989. He met with runner Giiwe (Betty) Martin and shared their concern about unifying tribes and healing Native communities. Ernie had previously discussed the possibility of a run around the Lac du Flambeau reservation with Kemo (Gary) Kmiecik. They drew inspiration from a message from Billy Mills about the healing capacity of running which sparked the idea for the first Solidarity Run in 1989.
The idea was simple and pure of heart. “In order to get through all the negative without striking back in anger, we need to come together as one mind, one heart. There is nothing we can’t accomplish together.” The first solidarity run included 24 runners covering 400 miles through seven reservations. Kemo had carved a staff the runners carried and relayed along the route.
In 2001 the Healing Circle Run followed the paths and purposes of the 89 and 90 relays uniting tribes and seeking healing. During the initial ceremony on the shores of Big Sandy Lake, Benny Rogers, a St. Croix Elder offered the opening prayer. Kmiecik relayed a teaching he had heard in 1990 at the Bigfoot Ride in South Dakota. “For healing to occur, it had to start with the individual. Once healed, that person could help heal his/her family and extended family. Once a family was healed, then it could help heal a community. A healed community could help heal the nation.” As he said this, an eagle perched in a nearby tree and flew up and out over the the lake. The run has continued since then. Read the full history of the run at https://glifwc.org/hcr#history-of-the-healing-circle-run.
Fast forward to July 16, 2025, the Healing Circle Run continues to bring many stories and change many lives while merging laugher with tears and bringing healing. Mille Lacs Band Commissioner of Natural Resources, Kelly Applegate spoke deeply about the purpose behind the journey, especially for Anishinaabe people navigating the modern world while holding on to traditional ways.
“As Anishinaabe people trying to exist in two worlds —keeping our traditions and our ways — we carry pain and trauma that people don’t always understand. We’re dealing with many challenges in our communities: addiction, environmental threats like the proposed nickel mine, and the fight to keep our water clean and our people healthy. All we’ve ever wanted is to be ourselves in this world,” he said.
“This run is a way to release some of that pain. It’s also a powerful presence — showing the world that we are still here, still caring for ourselves, and still doing what’s important for our people and for the world.”
Chief Executive Virgil Wind brought his unwavering support for this year’s run, even though he didn’t participate on foot. He offered rides to participants and encouraged the spirit of unity the event brings.
“This run represents all of the tribal nations within the GLIFWC region coming together for a shared purpose — praying for healing for all of our communities,” Wind said. “We have strength when we come together. Like the Water Over Nickel campaign, we’re reminded that we are not alone. The fight we’re in isn’t just for the Mille Lacs Band—it’s for everyone in Minnesota and for all our tribal nations.”
As part of the run, participants took turns sharing who they were and what motivated them to take part.
District II Band member Tania Aubid was among the first to step forward, sharing a powerful intention. “I’m praying that there will be healing in the minds of the current federal administration — to fix the Environmental Protection Act and strengthen protections to keep our waters clean, our manoomin edible, the animals we hunt healthy, and the air we breathe safe. I’m hoping for healing and change in his mind — and mine too, if that’s what it takes. I claim it all.”
Others expressed similar hopes — for personal healing, for their families, and for their communities. Some joined simply to support the runners or to witness the strength of the collective. Mille Lacs Band Department of Natural Resources Licensing Coordinator Leroy Day offered words of encouragement on a rainy morning. “Even though it’s raining today, the rain is also healing. It washes everything away — the hard feelings, the bad thoughts — we’re cleansing ourselves with the rain.”
District II Representative Wendy Merrill led the first leg of the Mille Lacs Band portion of the run. “It’s the strength of our community,” she said, reflecting on why she chose to be part of the event. “We carry a lot of weight as elected officials, making hard decisions every day. I wanted to be here, running in a good way, and thinking of all of you while I do it.”
Merrill not only completed the first leg, as planned, but kept going — running a full five miles.
The Mille Lacs Band portion of the run covered 47 miles with each leg covering anywhere between 1.5 to 3.5 miles beginning at the Big Sandy Lake Resort in McGregor ending at the Fond du Lac Reservation powwow grounds. There, the baton was passed to Fond du Lac runners, who continued the journey the next day reaffirming the strength and unity that lives on across the Anishinaabe homelands.
