Debra Lekanoff talks about President’s apology for boarding schools, how citizens can respond, and how meaning of Thankgiving is evolving

State Representative Debra Lekanoff spoke to Jeff Noedel from Yakutat, Alaska. Rep. Lekanoff is one of two state representatives in the 40th District, which includes all of San Juan County, and parts of Skagit and Whatcom counties.

She starts with a self-introduction. She is from the southeast Alaska community of Yakutat (“salmon people”). On her grandmother’s side, she is of the Tlingit tribe. Her father is Aleut (“seal people”) from the Pribilof Islands.

Debra Lekanoff brings to the conversation insights, passion, and optimism.

At 2:15 minutes into the interview, Rep. Lekanoff was asked how did she react to President Biden’s October apology for 150 years of U.S. boarding school policy?

(5:30) What would be an appropriate response to the President’s apology among non-Native American citizens?

(9:00) Does she feel support for Native American issues in the Washington state legislature?

(12:30) Share with us what Thanksgiving is to Native Americans. It’s not just another day, is it?

An excellent interview of Debra Lekanoff by public radio station KEXP in Seattle can be heard and read here.