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MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Terry Doerksen and his ox, Zik, walk near Niverville on their Thanksgiving pilgrimage from the junction of the Red and Rat Rivers to Blumenort on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. For Doerksen, this is a way to honour his Mennonite ancestors who came to Manitoba from Russia in 1875, the Métis people who helped them when they arrived in the province almost 150 years ago, and the Indigenous people who were forced from their land to make way for the new settlers. The 59-year-old electrician set out Friday morning with his wife, Patty, 61, headed for Blumenort, 34 kilometres away to the east, travelling at a top speed of three kilometres an hour. They plan to arrive Sunday. The pilgrimage is a way to “to experience, in a small way, what my ancestors did in coming to a new land, and to thank the Métis who met them with carts to help them get to their new homes,” said Doerksen. Winnipeg Free Press 2021.