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The Alaska Native Heritage Center says its study of church records that go back to the 1800s is not research for research’s sake, reports Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA.
Researcher Benjamin Jacuk-Dolchok (Kenaitze) says he hopes to reconstruct the story of how early churches used schools to separate Alaska Native peoples from their land, their culture, and their spirituality.
He says the impacts are still felt today.
“You can’t understand what you need healing from, unless you pull back the band aid and understand the wound.”
Jacuk-Dolchok says most Alaskans don’t realize how closely churches coordinated their efforts.
“While these might be different denominations, the ideology was mostly the same. And that was forced assimilation.”
Jacuk-Dolchok says some of the research looks at the role of boarding schools — and how Americanization and Christianity intersected to break the close connections Alaska Natives had with their land.
He says the forced use of English took away the “heart language” of the people, which sped up the process.
“The major takeaway from what we’re doing is understanding the truth to bring healing, so that younger generations can thrive.”
Jacuk-Dolchok has studied Native boarding schools for more than a decade and credits his grandfather, who attended boarding school, for inspiring his work.
The Princeton Seminary graduate says his theology studies has helped him with his research and given him access to important documents.
Jacuk-Dolchok will share some of his research at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage on Friday.
This 1990s mural in Belfast links the Irish and Native American struggles against colonialism. (Photo: Peter Moloney)
President Joe Biden flew to Ireland Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement.
But as Seo McPolin reports from Dublin, not everyone is celebrating the deal which deferred Indigenous Irish sovereignty in the name of peace and prosperity.
The Good Friday Agreement was hammered out 25 years ago by Irish, British, and American negotiators. It effectively ended decades of violence against the Irish people and opened up the economy of Northern Ireland.
However, it failed to unite the island of Ireland and left the British government, which sponsored much of the violence, in control of the six counties.
Sinn Féin, now the most popular political party on the island, has been denied the chance to lead on either side of the border by their right-wing counterparts.
Sinn Féin is pushing for a reunification vote, which has been gaining support since Brexit.
Britain’s withdrawal from the E.U. further isolated Northern Ireland from the rest of the island and put new pressure on the 25-year-old agreement.
President Biden will spend this week attending anniversary events and visiting his Irish cousins.
An Indigenous author recently released a new children’s book highlighting the cultural importance of hair. KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde.
Carole Lindstrom (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe/Métis)’s mom never allowed her to have long hair when she was young.
She didn’t understand until she learned about Indian Boarding Schools, where her relatives were forced to cut their hair.
“My mom didn’t allow it because it made us look native. It made us look uncivilized. That kind of decided it was time to tell the story.”
My Powerful Hair follows a young girl who sees her culture and life events woven into her hair like a scrapbook. At the end, the girl and her mom decide to grow their hair out together.
For Lindstrom, the story is very personal.
“I wish my mom was still here so she could be with me to celebrate who she really was.”
Illustrator Steph Littlebird (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) made the drawings colorful to show her community’s resilience.
“We’re fighting erasure on so many levels. And so these books make visible our community in a way that’s so beautiful and empowering.”
My Powerful Hair is available in bookstores and online.
Listen to Native America Calling’s recent conversation with Carole Lindstrom
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