Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEAKS OF OTTER LENGTH: Long
Somewhere along the line, someone gave Gaston Lavoie a pair of hiking sneakers. He didn't need two pairs, so he passed his old ones on to someone else.
And when Lavoie needs food to eat, or a place to plug in his laptop computer and hook up to the Internet, that, too, is provided. That is the way.
"I just go down the road like this," Lavoie said, cocking his arm and holding his palm flat, like a figure in an Egyptian painting, "and people give."
Lavoie, a former Canadian diplomat, is among the 20 or so people who walked along the Blue Ridge Parkway on Tuesday on their way from Massachusetts to Santa Barbara, Calif., where they expect to arrive early next year.
The traveling troupe say their journey runs on faith, trust, lots of prayer, lots of maps and a little gasoline. They've walked through cities, suburbs and farms and crossed racial and cultural divides to bring a message to as many people as possible.
"We are going to have to build a new world," says Lavoie. "This one is crumbling." Acid rain, violence, nuclear weapons, crime, water pollution - all are signs of a dying planet that must be healed before it's too late, they say.
They call themselves "Sunbow 5," for the symbolic colors of the five races of humanity - brown, black, red, yellow and white. They average about 30 miles a day, splitting into groups that each walk part of the distance.
Some days they give scheduled presentations to large groups, including one at the United Nations headquarters in New York City last month. Other days they talk to only a few people who might stop them along the road to find out what the heck they're doing.
They've also crossed an electronic divide, and set up a World Wide Web homepage and Internet address. People from around the world now follow the group's progress and cheer them on. One woman from Switzerland even flew in and joined them in Washington, D.C.
The Internet has provided more than encouragement, however. The walkers often find offers of food, shelter and transportation online. Last week, one Floyd County cyber-surfer ran across the "Sunbow 5" information and helped arrange a place for them to stay Tuesday night.
"All these people rushed in and built this electronic network," said Steve McFadden, who stayed behind in New Hampshire to coordinate mail, monetary donations, the computer network and other support for the walkers.
"Many watch the walk till it gets down to their area, then they come and bring food, shoes and shake their hands," he said.
As of Tuesday, the 47th day out, the walk had gone smoothly, except for the 100-degrees-plus days when the walkers found themselves in the middle of the Bronx, N.Y.; Trenton, N.J.; Philadelphia; and other cities.
"They certainly feel relieved to be up in the beautiful Skyline and Blue Ridge roadways. It's balm for their burned souls," he said.
The journey began as a vision shared by 28 elders of the seven Native American nations who spoke at the U.N. "Cry of the Earth" conference in 1993. Among them was Grandfather William Commanda, 82, an Algonquin elder and keeper of the sacred Seven Fires Prophecy Wampum Belt.
On June 23, Commanda joined about 100 people at First Encounter Beach in Massachusetts to take the first steps in the 3,700-mile journey. Because of his health, Commanda left the walk but continues to be its spiritual guide, McFadden said.
"Grandfather Commanda always says the walk is a prayer. It's not a march, it's not a protest. It's just a prayer."
And it's a joy, said Ineke Soto. She and her husband, Joe, from Buffalo, N.Y., are making the trek with 10-month-old daughter, Julia, buckled up in a stroller and shaded by an umbrella. She and the baby often ride in the old pickup truck or the small car the group has with them for the trip.
Another walker, Dierdra Dostou, seemed to enjoy the rock group Rage Against the Machine on her Walkman more than the scenery. Dressed in baggy blue jeans and red plaid flannel shirt, Dostou said she isn't sure whether she should go back to high school in Quebec this fall or finish the trek. She'll find the answer, she said, "by praying and thinking a lot."
Her father, Tom, is one of the journey's leaders. He left the Roanoke Valley on Monday to attend a conference, but said in a phone conversation that the walkers have been well-received along the way.
"It's quite interesting. The people, the land - it's all diversified," he said. "We've stayed at houses that have seven to 10 bathrooms, and the next day we're sleeping in an abandoned park on Staten Island next to water we can't swim in because it's so polluted."
They've had people from neurosurgeons to garbage collectors join them for an afternoon, a weekend, or a week, he said. "We pick them up and lose them as we go from city to city. The common thread is that they're all people who are concerned," he said.
To learn more about the wampum belt and other aspects of the walk, E-mail address is InfoSunbow5Walk.org. The World Wide Web site is http://www.sunbow5walk.org/business/sunbow5//. To send e-mail directly to the walkers, the address is Sunbow5cris.com.
by CNB