Indigenous communities welcomed a 400-truck solidarity convoy with ceremony in 2021

Evidence

The pandemic was still raging, and the community where the graves were found had made it clear that they did not want crowds of strangers traipsing through their territory. Otto had an idea for something powerful that would respect the community’s need for physical distance: a trucker convoy, one that would pass in front of the burial grounds, make some offerings, then leave. He called it the We Stand in Solidarity Convoy. Otto posted invitations to various trucker Facebook groups and reached out to influential people in the industry. His goal was for the convoy to grow to 215 trucks; in the end, closer to 400 trucks joined up, along with many motorcycles and cars. Drivers decorated their vehicles with messages of love, hung orange shirts on their grilles, and waved EVERY CHILD MATTERS flags. The convoy was met with cheers all along the way, and in some cases whole towns came to greet them and share food. When the trucks made it to the former residential school, honking their airhorns as they passed, many members of the Secwépemc Nation greeted them with ceremonial drumming, warrior songs, and burning sage. Fists were raised in resolve, and faces were washed in tears. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 855

Categorization

• CANDY: The image of 400 trucks decorated with orange shirts and EVERY CHILD MATTERS flags, welcomed with drumming and songs, is a vivid counter-image to what trucker convoys became months later.
• SHARE: The specifics - 215 trucks planned, 400 joined, Secwépemc drumming and sage - are a narrow and moving historical detail for anyone tracking the Canadian convoy phenomenon.