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Honour Our Tears: The Healing Journey of Wille Abrahams

In the mid-1980s, Willie Abrahams discovered a unique way to undertake his healing journey - by cycling the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia. He saved some money working as a dishwasher and bought a bike, and he has been riding ever since. "It was a great way to see the city," he says. Among other things, cycling helped him overcome alcoholism.

Willie Abrahams is a survivor of St. Michael's Indian Residential School in Alert Bay (Vancouver Island), which he attended from 1950 to 1957. "I was 10 when I went in and 16 when I came out." Not long ago he returned to the former school, as part of his healing. "The building is still there. I hadn't been there in years, but I went to see it. I don't care what they do with it now."

Willie Abrahams' 1998 bicycle tour, undertaken with four other riders, was called "Honour Our Tears". He cycled from Prince Rupert to Nanaimo, via the Fraser Canyon, a route of roughly 1500 kilometres. For those who don't know, it's an arduous trek through mountains and intermittent patches of driving rain. A remarkable accomplishment for anyone, the journey is even more impressive when one considers that Willie was at the time 57 years old.

He's remarkably humble speaking of the trip. "I've got a 21-speed bike. The bikes they've got now have so many speeds - that makes it easier. For this trip I'm looking at getting a 26-speed bike, if I can get the money."

This time Willie plans to undertake a bicycle journey from Halifax to Victoria, a trip he expects will take 3 months. "I can average 100 kilometres a day, but 80 is safer." And if he has time, he says he will paddle up to Campbell River when he arrives in Victoria.

Forced to attend residential school, where he was sexually abused, Willie is not the first person to use a physical journey as a means to address the effects of the residential school system. Others have brought attention to the legacy of residential schools by walking across parts, and even all, of Canada, alone or in groups. As Willie said at the time of his 1998 ride, "the general public has only a vague idea of the effect residential schools had."

The purpose of this latest journey is simple and straightforward. "The whole concept is to cycle through Canada and let other survivors know I'm okay - to let them know how I started my healing journey."

Along the way, Willie plans to perform traditional dances of the Haida Gwaii. "The first dance, the Wild Man dance, represents what I suffered at residential school. The second, the Eagle Dacne, represents my healing journey." He is asking for permission to take with him 2 Haida Gwaii masks.

Willie, who cycles 20 kilometres every day, will begin his latest cycling journey in early June, returning to BC in early September. At present, the local community is helping him to raise the money he'll need to cover the costs of the trip.

How much he'll need depends on the nature of his plans. "The committee suggested I get a vehicle to drive out to Halifax. I think I can do the trip by myself for $6,000. I'll need about 25 (thousand) if I bring others."

As for the attention of the Canadian media, Willie is glad to have any support. His interest is in meeting with other Aboriginal people and sharing his message with other survivors. "I'm planning to participate in workshops and healing circles, and to talk to Elders. I'll be visiting the communities as I travel." The focus of this trip, he says, is healing. "I want survivors to have hope."

Reprinted with permission from

"Healing Words" (Volume 2, Number 3), a publication of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (online at www.ahf.ca).