Today is National Orange Shirt Day, or as it's called in Canada, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day of memorial that recognizes the atrocities and multi-generational effects of residential boarding schools.
Last Friday, we held a Community Resiliency Assembly in Honor of Orange Shirt Day. We created a space to honor our community's incredible resiliency and the spirit of survivance (a combination of survival and resilience that Mr. Lindsey spoke about). We celebrated our Indigenous staff members who have received bachelor's and master's degrees in the last year or are new to the district. Brian Leask & Jared Williams were gifted a bouquet of cedar roses for earning a bachelor's degree, and a cedar rope was gifted to Marissa Yliniemi and Ggoadm 'Teebn (Victoria McCoy) for earning a master's degree.
We also celebrated our guest of honor, Lori Christansen, for her incredible years of service to AISD. Lori received an "Eclipse," carved and painted by MHS Native Art Lead Artist Axe (Lacey) Marsden. As John Hudson described the piece, "An eclipse is a rare occurrence that only comes around every so often, kind of like Mrs. Lori Christansen."
Finally, the 4th Generation Dance Group invited everyone to sing and dance together. Tsimshian culture is thriving in our schools, and together, we will carry these important traditions forward!
If you weren’t able to join us at our assembly, the link to the recording is listed below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPY0ULTvG9s
#aisd #aisdproud #orangeshirtday #tsimshian #resiliency #survivance #metlakatla #alaska #wayiwah