Welcome to an Alaska Native Resilience Journey
This June, over a dozen collaborators and movement-makers joined JumpScale and CDFI Spruce Root in Southeast Alaska on a remarkable learning journey. We gathered in support of the Resilience Circles, a wellbeing-centered accelerator for Alaska Native business owners. We learned in community with Alaska Native leaders in hospitality, regenerative forestry, plant medicine, weaving, carving, and more. The canoe was both a metaphor for the journey and a very real part of our lived experience as we moved around the waters of the region and participated in the ceremonial welcome of the Hawai’ian sea-voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa.
“The learning journey was a fantastic way to gain a deeper understanding of the current reality of the community, culture, land, sea, and people, and how so many of us can come together to support building a resilient society.”
“I came here, I fell in love with the people, the place, their spirit, their honesty, their trust, their traditions, their vulnerability, their welcoming hospitality, their honoring and intimate sharing of culture. I feel I stepped away from the 24/7 world craziness into a timeless porthole of primordial humanity.”
“I went on the trip with a lot of unknown. I returned feeling elated, in constant reflection and awed from bearing witness to a resilient community deeply connected to nature and sacred traditions we can emulate in our fragile ecosystems.”
“We met some of the most seasoned experts, talented artists, brilliant storytellers, and influential Indigenous leaders and elders of Southeast Alaska, learning about the complex histories and many opportunities ahead. It was truly an honor to be a part of this program at this early stage, and I look forward to being a part of it for years to come. As they say in Tlingit, Gunalchéesh!”