CAMPAIGNERS walking from Skye to Glasgow are urging people to join their efforts to highlight “land justice”.
The Just Walk, which has been going since September 16, has passed through Armadale, Knoydart, Glenfinnan, Kinlochleven and Crianlarich and will finish in Scotland’s biggest city on Tuesday.
It is being billed as a “walking assembly” to highlight the historic injustices of Scots being forced from their land.
Those behind the project have said they hope to “bring alive and respond to the history of communities having been cleared from their lands by an empire that tried to break people's culture and connectedness”.
According to the project’s website, more than 90 people have taken part or have registered interest.
The campaigners have sought to highlight how the Highland Clearances mirrored British colonialism abroad and forced Scots into inflicting on others what had been done to them.
The site said: “Communities were cleared from their lands by an empire that mostly turned those evicted into labourers working at the furnace of empire’s factories in Glasgow, or into colonisers sent from the quaysides to evict other communities from their lands elsewhere.
“For example, in the 1880s, the British government sent troops to Tiree to quell land-related protest, while women led resistance to evictions on Skye. Meanwhile, British colonisers forcibly evicted communities from their lands across Africa, Australasia, the Americas and much of Asia.”
Those joining in Glasgow can meet with the group at the Botanic Gardens at 3.30pm on October 7, from where they will walk to the Clyde for a 5pm arrival.
The finishing point has been picked to echo a line from Hamish Henderson's Freedom Come All Ye, which includes the lines: "Nae mair will the bonnie callants / Mairch tae war when oor braggarts crousely craw, / Nor wee weans frae pit-heid and clachan / Mourn the ships sailin doon the Broomielaw."
Campaigners hope to get participants to question how to “reclaim lands and buildings that were stolen”.
The site added: “We want to make sure that everyone is welcome to join for whichever part they wish. Let us know if you are interested, and for what part.”
Most days involve around three to five hours of walking, and kit, including sleeping gear, is taken along the route by van.
They have heard from campaigners from Balloch fighting against the controversial Flamingo Land development at Loch Lomond and from Skye-based artists and organisers Daniel Cullen and Rhona Coogan, who compared the proliferation of holiday homes in their community to an extension of the Highland Clearances.
They have also been joined by people from the Nuxalk Territories in Canada and a member of the Ogiek and Sengwer of Kenya.
Campaigners, who have been carrying a banner which mashes up the flags of both Palestine and Scotland, have been keeping a blog of their experiences along the route.
One entry relates an interaction with a member of staff working on the ferries: “At the jetty, the man guiding passengers onto the CalMac ferry responded by asking whether there’s enough land for eight billion people?
“He concluded the problem is that the land's been taken from the many by the few. He’s worked in Norway and said land ownership is utterly different there to here. He cheered us on as we boarded.”
Once the day’s walk is finished, the group eat dinner together with locals and sit around telling stories, holding discussions and playing music.
You can find out more and get involved by clicking here.
