Full representation on Orange Shirt Day?

I read the Juneau Independent’s article on Orange Shirt Day. My wife is an erased Alaska Native thanks to the Baptist boarding school at Wood Island, Alaska. Our grandmother, Olga Berstoff/Berestov, was taken from the Seldovia tribe back in 1911, she was 2 years old. She was taken with her older sister Marina. Back in 2019, after two years of research, I was able to find out everything about my wife Cheri's ancestry and heritage. Sadly, her tribe refuses to acknowledge her, and just recently a relative we never knew about was also rejected for tribal membership. The Seldovia tribal council refuses to acknowledge or have any empathy for the descendants of the tribe’s founding leader, Chief Feodor Berestov. 

Orange Shirt Day should also recognize that Alaska Natives were not only erased by the boarding school, but also erased by tribal councils.

I also question the outrage in Ketchikan over the statement by Darlene Svenson. James Labelle Sr., who is on the board of the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition, Alaska Pacific University’s Elders Council, an instructor at the University of Alaska, and a 2025 Alaska Governor's Arts and Humanities Awards recipient, celebrates the murder of Charlie Kirk. So far, no problem with his inhumane statement. Ketchikan tribal council members were severely insulted by a one-sentence statement, yet LaBelle's statement is justified. 

Erasing Alaska Natives is acceptable if a tribal council decides to inflict it on their own people. Does any of this make sense?

Dan Haarstad

Goodyear, Arizona