A New Beginning in Gambell

On March 10, 2012 the school gymnasium in the village of Gambell AK was packed and the predominant mood was definitely joy. Two years of careful planning had culminated in a two-day event, and the two-day event had culminated in this huge celebration. Such heart-felt celebration was especially wonderful, given that the purpose of the event was for the Presbyterian Church to admit mistakes it had made in the past, and to seek a new way forward in its partnership with the community. In fact, the theme the community leaders chose for the event was A New Beginning.

The Presbyterian delegation traveled from across the presbytery to participate, and one even traveled from the Lower 48. Since Gambell, a village of 700 people, is located on St. Lawrence Island, just 36 miles from the coast of Siberia, the travel was significant. Their purpose was to offer an apology and "seek reconciliation" for past cultural abuses. The abuses included such things as attempting to stamp out traditional dancing and drumming, and restricting the use of the Native Language. These practices had been part of a decades-long assimilation campaign that began more than a century ago.

In the early decades of the 20^th century the government and the church believed that the assimilation of Native peoples into western society was the best goal for education. As the decades passed, it became clear that assimilation practices hurt people, bringing many to feel shame for their own heritage and culture. Such shame brought division, confusion and pain within families and within the community.

The importance of engaging in a meaningful reconciliation now became apparent when the session of the Gambell Presbyterian Church and the Aywaan Parish sent a formal request to the Presbytery of Yukon. The request noted that there was a lingering barrier left over from the early days of the school, which had been operated by the church until the 1940s. The last students from the Presbyterian schools were now the clan elders, who were becoming quite elderly. The time for reconciliation had clearly come.

The purpose of the event was to open the way for the healing of emotional and spiritual wounds within the community. Care was taken to test the wisdom of holding such an event. Clan elders, corporation leadership, city government and village leaders were all consulted. Finally, the decision was made to proceed.

Speakers for the event included former Gambell Mayor Edna Apatiki, Fr. Michael Oleksa, and Dorothy Bekoalak,. Apatiki, a life-long resident and educator in Gambell, spoke of the experience of assimilation from the villagers’ point of view. She spoke of the great respect many held for some of the missionaries, but also of the shame and pain that an attitude of assimilation brought to the people. This pain continues to contribute to many of the more difficult issues of village life—issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

Fr. Oleksa a recognized cross-cultural educator in Alaska, taught that teachers and religious leaders were motivated by good intentions, but also held a false belief that assimilation was a good thing. Previous polices had included extermination and removal, both of which were disastrous to the Native peoples of America. Assimilation seemed a kinder and more enlightened approach. Since then, however, it has become apparent just how damaging it can be to consistently denigrate a people’s culture. Oleksa called on the Gambell people to recognize that healing is available, and to raise-up young people for training as their own teachers, preachers and community leaders.

Dorothy Bekoalak, teacher on the healing of historical trauma, reminded the people of Gambell of the immense amount of grief contained in their own history. She then described the need for the people to recognize the way that grief had been passed from generation to generation without providing a way for the community to process what had happened. She called on the community to enter into a season of healing. Bekoalak thanked the missionaries for bringing the gift of the gospel, but pointed out that along with the gospel they brought individual and communal pain.

The Presbyterian delegation was then offered a chance to speak. Participants from the Presbytery of Yukon include Elder Lee Jordan, Moderator of the Presbytery; Rev. Henry Woodall, Leadership Team Moderator; Rev. Curt Karns, Executive Presbyter; Rev. Mary Ann Warden, Native American Consulting Committee Moderator; Elder Clayton Antioquia from the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Elder Marjorie Poggas from Gambell Presbyterian Church’s Sister Church, Jewel Lake Parish in Anchorage.

The Rev. Henry Woodall was the first to speak. Woodall described the biblical guidance on the nature of the repentance and reconciliation God requires of Christians. Representing the national church, Clay Antioquia spoke next. The old Board of National Missions recruited, trained and gave oversight to the missionaries on the island. Rev. Mary Ann Warden set the spiritual tone, bringing hymns, prayers and scripture readings to the event. The Rev. Curt Karns spoke last. Picking up on the Scripture that Rev. Warden had offered, Karns pointed to 2 Cor. 4:7, which tells us that we bring God’s treasure in clay jars. He asked the people of Gambell not to confuse the treasure of the gospel with the clay. Significant mistakes were clearly made, and the residue of those mistakes needs to be recognized and cleared away.

At the end of the conference, Presbytery Moderator Lee Jordan formally requested forgiveness on behalf of the Presbytery of Yukon. Much of the Gambell community turned out for this portion of the A New Beginning event. As the clan elders and community leaders each came forward to receive the apology and offer forgiveness, elders Jordan and Poggas presented each with a framed copy of the apology, and a crocheted cross that included the color purple for penance.

The evening then turned into a joyful celebration offered in the form the traditional drumming and dance that was once condemned by the missionaries. The gymnasium floor was crowed with the dancers. All the members of the delegation from the Presbyterian Church joined whole-heartedly in the dance.

After the event some of the Gambell church members reflected on what had transpired. Elder Beulah Nowpokahok said that the teaching was tremendously helpful. As an example she pointed to Fr. Oleksa’s reminder that Yupik people have always believed that the animals actually choose to sustain human life by offering their bodies to humans as food. Fr. Oleksa suggested that the connection to the gospel of Jesus Christ seems very clear. Christ also offered his body for our salvation, and it is his sacrifice in the body that we remember whenever we celebrate Holy Communion.

Lucy Apatiki, Commissioned Ruling Elder at the church reported that some spiritual barrier appears to have been breached. She reported a new sense of freedom in the community, and that people appear to

be filled with new energy and enthusiasm when they participate in cultural activities. Apatiki said this new freedom was already evident on the last night of the New Beginnings event. At the atuq, the gathering for the traditional drumming and dance, more people, and especially more men, participated than in long memory. Indeed, so many men participated in the drumming that they had to sit in two rows to accommodate so many—even in the school gymnasium.

Picture 1: Alaska Map, with Gambell in red.

Picture 2: From Left: Fr. Oleksa, Lee Jordan, Clay Antioquia, Marjorie Poggas, Mary Ann Warden, and Henry Woodall.

Picture 3: Drummers and Dancers

Picture 4: Grandmother and Granddaughter dance