By Bay Paulsen, Staff Writer
The Healing Circle Run is a seven-day and approximately 700-mile journey connecting 10 Ojibwe reservations. A core group completes the entire journey along with the sacred items and pipes while tribal members and staff from each reservation join in for the days in which the core passes through their community. The run is completed in a relay, with one or more people covering every mile, until each day’s leg is completed. The following is an account from a core runner:
Day 1, Saturday July 12, Lac Courte Oreilles to Lac du Flambeau
Arriving to the first day’s meeting point beside Pipestone Creek on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation, the runners and walkers were met with gentle rainfall, offering a welcoming coolness to the morning. The rain lightened during the opening ceremony, and it remained pleasant for the rest of the day. Respected LCO elder Gary Quaderer attended the morning ceremony, opening it with prayer, and newly elected LCO councilwoman Janet Quaderer along with her children walked the day’s first mile. Ending the day in Lac du Flambeau, the runners were treated to dinner at the Lake of the Torches buffet and welcomed for an honor song at the Bear River Powwow.
Day 2, Sunday July 13, Lac du Flambeau to Mole Lake
Tired already from the previous night’s powwow, the core runners as well as Lac du Flambeau community participants gathered for opening ceremony at eight in the morning. Held every morning and evening, the opening and closing ceremonies were attended by the sacred items residing within GLIFWC’s care. They stood in the center of each ceremony and travelled along with the core runners along the entire route. After tobacco had been passed, collected, and smoked, a talking circle began, allowing all those in attendance to reflect or tell stories.
The day was clear and warm, though a cool breeze greeted runners at the crest of every rolling hill. Nearing Mole Lake, some of the core runners got a chuckle from seeing well-known Mole Lake elder Wayne LaBine posing for a health advert high up on a billboard, which they made sure to lightheartedly poke fun at him for during the closing ceremony and feast, which featured deliciously comforting home-cooked foods.
Day 3, Monday July 14, Mole Lake and Keweenaw Bay to Lac Vieux Desert
After breakfast and opening ceremony, runners and walkers joining for the Mole Lake leg of the run took the first mile as one large group. Elder Frances Van Zile walked with them, holding the Zaagajiwe staff high. Stopping briefly to take a group photo in front of the “Welcome to Mole Lake” sign, the proud members of this community ran ahead to cover the next several miles. At the same time, runners from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community began their trek from Baraga, Mich., on their way to meet the core at Lac Vieux Desert. The day was very warm, sunny, and humid; it was the warmest day of the week.
Similarly to how the day began, the leg ended with runners and walkers walking towards the Lac Vieux Desert roundhouse as a group, enjoying the downhill ending. They were greeted in the roundhouse with drum songs before enjoying a hot meal, complete with frybread and cake. That evening’s closing ceremony and talking circle proved to be very emotional, going later into the night and leading to a calm and spiritual serenity as they finished the day.
Day 4, Tuesday July 15, Lac Vieux Desert to Bad River to Red Cliff
Meeting at the Lac Vieux Desert Boys and Girls Club for breakfast, the core group began embracing the “ish” part of the phrase: “we’re meeting at eight-ish in the morning,” as feet and legs grew more tired and sleeping in became more tempting. However, a bacon and egg breakfast perked everyone up, and after another talking circle and a joyful traveling song from several of the young LVD men, the entire group started out for the first mile. Coordinators wanted to get as many miles covered as early as possible to avoid the arrival of the looming storm clouds in the distance. At the first regroup, the wind began picking up dramatically, but the rain graciously withheld its downpour until after stopping at the Bessemer, Mich. Dairy Queen for an ice cream break.
A small subset of the core visited with Neil Kmiecik, one of the founding members of the Healing Circle Run, before continuing on to Red Cliff, during which the downpour finally arrived. The heavy rain lent itself to gratefulness towards members of Bad River, Red Cliff, and GLIFWC staff, who had covered all the miles necessary to make it to the end of the leg without the need to walk in the torrent. The drive was slow as visibility dropped, but all runners arrived safely to the closing ceremony at the new Red Cliff cultural center.
Day 5, Wednesday July 16, Red Cliff and Mille Lacs to Fond du Lac
The morning after the hard rain was met with appreciation, both for the good energy it brought, as well as for how it cleared away the smoky air from the Canadian wildfires, which had become more noticeable in the last few days. It continued to rain gently for the rest of the morning, starting the day in a pleasant and invigorating mood.
By this day, as core runners began realizing how small a distance they’d been needing to cover each day, it became heartwarmingly clear how much each community had involved themselves in the run. From young children holding their parents’ hands to respected elders carrying sacred staffs, participants of all ages eagerly covered the majority of each day’s miles. Due to the distance the Red Cliff and Fond du Lac runners covered themselves, the core runners found themselves without any gaps to fill. The restful day was welcome, and after stopping for lunch along the way, the core made their way to meet the Fond du Lac and Mille Lacs runners at the Fond du Lac community’s powwow grounds.
The evening was uncharacteristically cool with many participants wrapped in blankets for the closing ceremony and talking circle, but all were warmed when they gathered into the buffet at the Black Bear Casino for a hot and filling meal.
Day 6, Thursday July 17, Fond du Lac to St. Croix
After the morning ceremony, several attendees played a community game of baaga’adowewin, or traditional Ojibwe lacrosse, led by Biidaasige Tom Howes. A blanket was laid out on the outskirts of the play area and many different gifts from t-shirts to birch bark baskets were spread across it. This being a gift game, any player who scored a point had the opportunity to pick anything from the blanket but was encouraged to practice generosity by giving any earned gifts away.
After baaga’adowewin, everyone was eager to begin walking towards St. Croix, knowing that delicious ice cream awaited them at the Log Cabin Eatery in Danbury, Wis. Then, after food and ceremony at the community center in Hertel, everyone laid down to rest, though many of them would remain awake, talking, and enjoying each other’s company long into the night, not wanting the last day to come so soon.
Day 7, Friday July 18, St. Croix to Lac Courte Oreilles
The opening ceremony of the last day was filled with words of gratefulness, and a bittersweet feeling rested over the core runners. Only a few miles remained until they would find themselves back in the same place they began on day one, completing the circle. Another cool and misty day followed the runners to the end of their journey.
The day wouldn’t prove to be an easy finisher, however. Some of the runners were met with nasty words and aggressively close driving from the surrounding non-native community as they walked through. The threatening behavior cast a sour shade on the next regroup point, but the participants smudged again to help regain the mindful and prayerful attitude they hoped to finish with.
The hateful energy was soon put behind them though as the core walked triumphantly to the end as one group, hugging and high fiving after the last step. Then, as is tradition, they played their game of longball: simply, seeing who can whack a golf ball the furthest down a remote section of road with an old beaten-up golf club. This tradition has always been a satisfyingly fun way to end the annual seven-day-long journey.
After the final closing ceremony in the very place they conducted the first opening ceremony, the core slowly parted ways. While many of them wished the week could go on forever, they knew the healing they received on this journey would need to be taken back into their communities. And so the 2025 Healing Circle Run was completed, but the effects would continue to ripple throughout the lives of all those who participated and beyond. The Healing Circle Run prayer lingered on everyone’s mind:
Healing begins with the individual
As a person heals,
they can help their family to heal.
As families heal,
they can help their communities to heal.
As individuals, families,
communities, and nations heal,
they can help
Aki and our plant and animal relatives
to heal.
—Healing Circle Run prayer