Alaska
Minister conducts ‘healing work’ through research of Alaska Native boarding schools
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Ben Jacuk is an ordained minister. It comes in handy while he researches the history of tribal boarding schools in Alaska. Most schools were church-run, so he understands the little details in the written information. And he knows where information gets stored.
For two years Jacuk has been focusing on his research for the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. But he has been researching boarding schools for the past 10 years. He’s only 32 years old so he had been doing the research for almost one-third of his life.
Jacuk is looking for an idea of how much damage was done to Alaska’s Native population. The Heritage Center hopes once they can see the wound, the healing can begin.
“This is very much healing work and we’re doing this in partnership with many organizations across the country,” ANHC President & CEO Emily Edenshaw said.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.