Cutural In-Service Day

I had the pleasure of sitting in on the morning program for the Cultural In-Service at the school. The guest speaker was Kenny Grant, an elder of the Tlingit people.


The opening of his presentation was my favorite part of the time we spent together. He greeted us all in his native tongue of Tlingit and continued speaking for two minutes with the easy hushed consonants and smoothly flowing vowels. His face was relaxed, his eyes sincere and his physical composure that was both respectful and proud. His words brought tears to my eyes. The sounds felt like a soft feather touching my cheek.

Perhaps it is my love for foreign languages, the way that I am drawn to different sounds, like opera for example; I appreciate the act of communicating even when I don’t know word for word what they are saying. There is a greater beauty in language that seeks to make a universal connection with the spirit. I love that.

He was brought up in Missionary schools so his English is as musical as his Tlingit. Kenny spent a few hours sharing some details of his people; the moieties of the Raven and Eagle, geographical history, and the outside forces that have greatly impacted the Tlingit: capitalism, land ownership and Western education.

While he spoke most of the time to the ideal of respect that pervades his culture, he ended his presentation by admitting that he knows his people are not a healthy thriving people, “they are hanging on by life support.” Yet when asked what the answer is to remedy this…his reply was that he didn’t know.