In the summer of 2021, a month after the world was awakened by the discovery of 215 remains of innocent school children at the Kamloops Industrial Residential School in British Columbia, I attended a community event in my hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The four-hour event included a potluck dinner, jingle-dress dancing, and a talking circle. The talking circle was filled with honest dialogue and tears.
ANCHORAGE—Braving frigid temperatures, members of Alaska Native communities took the concept "it takes a village to raise a child" to a different level on Sunday, Oct. 22, when a crowd of more than 500 gathered to raise a totem pole dedicated to healing from the Indian boarding school era. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland joined the crowd as it raised The Boarding School Totem Pole after Sunday's "Road to Healing" listening session at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage.