The runners set out Thursday morning on a seven-month spiritual quest from downtown Fairbanks.
The Peace and Dignity Journeys Intercontinental Prayer Run takes runners over 5,400 miles across the Western Hemisphere.
Representatives of indigenous peoples met in Quito, Ecuador in 1990, at which time they discussed prophecies regarding eagles and condors. Delegates believed that one way to share Indigenous knowledge would be to reunite the eagle, which symbolizes the northern Indigenous peoples, and the condor, which symbolizes the southern Indigenous peoples.
Every four years since 1992, groups of runners start in Alaska and Argentina and meet in the center.
This year is the first year of spiritual activity since the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the group will depart from Fairbanks and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and meet in El Cuaca, Colombia.
Dozens of people gathered at Griffin Park Thursday morning to send off the 10 core runners with prayers and songs of protection and peace.
Jose Malvido of Arizona said the run is a time for Indigenous people to reconnect with their spirituality and use it to “heal and move people forward.”
Kathleen Hildebrand asked runners to pray for the sovereignty of Alaska’s fishing tribes and for the return of king salmon. Other Fairbanks residents also prayed for those struggling with addiction and mental health.
Fairbanks resident Benno Cleveland said the run was about unity, strength and healing. Cleveland prayed for peace around the world.
Salvador Reza of Phoenix, Arizona, joined the run in 1992 and has been a supporter ever since. Reza said running is not a religious event, but a connection with water, wind, fire and earth.
“No one can run faster than the slowest runner,” Reza said. “It’s a prayer, a spiritual prayer.”
Amonita Beck of Durango, Colorado, said some people run for a few hours, while others run for a month. A group of 10 to 14 core runners will aim to reach Colombia.
“I can’t tell you how many people support this candidacy,” Beck said.
Runners carry canes all the way to Columbia, including one given to them by the late Chief Marie Smith Jones in the 1990s.
Sarah James of Arctic Village gave canes made from horns, beaver fur, caribou skin, rabbit fur, rabbit feet and eagle feathers. She said the cane symbolizes the North Pole, caribou and the people of the North Pole.
The core runners are from Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Canada, California, Hawaii, and Mexico. Runners will stop at Sarcha, Dot Lake, Tok and Northway on their journey.
