Two-hundred and fifteen birch bark rafts will be released on to Lac La Ronge on Friday during a ceremony.
The rafts are being made this week on the site of the Lac La Ronge Residential School.
Tom Roberts, a residential school support worker and counsellor who also spoke at the vigil Monday, said the rafts are a way of honouring the children.
“That’s our way of remembering these kids that didn’t make it home to their mom and dads.”
A ceremony will be held before the rafts are released including prayers, singing and dancing.
After, the sacred fire that has been burning on the site since Monday will be put out, finishing the four days and four nights of traditional burning.
Roberts said the sacred fire is important for healing.
“They light it for four days and four nights, and that sacred fire keeps the spirit alive for people who are in mourning and are in (a) healing process of events, tragedies and experiences in residential schools.”
He said his goal to make people aware of the injustices that happened at the schools.
“My biggest mission here is awareness, (to) make people aware of what happened in these residential schools across Canada,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know, a lot of people have heard, but our mission is to make people aware that these things happened. They’re not just stories, they’re true life experiences.”
Support workers are on site near the sacred fire this week working to counsel residential school survivors that are choosing to tell their stories.
(PHOTO: A vigil took place Monday hours after the sacred fire was lit. Photo by Sam Campling.)