The Longest Walk 2 - Northern Route walkers arrived in Florence Saturday April 19 for an overnight place on their journey. Contact had been made through this website and arrangements were made for them to camp in Grandview Park. For their evening meal, they were provided food and a bbq grill for cooking. A few of us helped them with their needs, and enjoyed meeting the group of about 50 people and spending time with them Saturday evening. They were all wonderful people who gave many thanks to our community for providing them the food and the overnight area.

We were told there were around 25 different tribes represented in this group. Some walkers had participated in the original Longest Walk in 1978, and some of the younger walkers were following footsteps of relatives. A lot of them were eagerly anticipating seeing parts of the country they had never experienced before, besides meeting new people with new walkers joining them along the way. We were honored to have been part of this landmark event in their lives.

We wish them safety and good health for the rest of their walk. To find out how to give much needed support, please visit their website.

Longest Walk 2: February 11th - July 11, 2008 www.longestwalk.org
"All Life is Sacred"

(Taken from postcard:)

• The Longest Walk 2 is a five-month long trans-continental journey on foot from San Francisco, CA to Washington, D.C.
• We are walking to protect our environment & sacred sites.
• We are walking for cultural survival, youth empowerment, and Native American rights.
• The Longest Walk 2 follows two routes, a Northern and a Southern one that will cover more than 8,000 miles in total, stopping in communities along the way.
• The Longest Walk 2 also marks the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk of 1978 that resulted in historic changes for Native Americans.

Longest Walk 2

Florence, Kansas April 19, 2008 Click for larger photos

Bus preparing to leave	Butterfly learning to cook on a grill	We let him wear the hat because he's from Oklahoma. (Photographer was wearing KU NCAA shirt)	Serving the evening meal
Song before the evening meal	Song with their drum	Group song before the evening meal