Wednesday is the winter solstice. It’s the shortest day in the year.
It’s an opportunity for Juneau to heal from the colonial legacy that the Christian holiday season left behind.
Haa Tooch Licheesh Coalition will be celebrating the solstice Wednesday at Generations Southeast. They will have a potluck and gift-making.
Jamiann Seiltin Hasselquist, organizer of the event, said that it was a way to “decolonize” the holiday and to get into spirituality and set intentions.
She stated that forced conversion to Christianity during the boarding schools era has been a continuing threat to Indigenous people. It is possible to heal when a holiday isn’t tied to Christianity.
Haa Tooch Licheesh and Ati Nasiah also said that the solstice was a time for intention about the next year.
She said that she was asking about the lessons seasonal shifts can teach her about living values-aligned lifestyles, where there is a reciprocal and healthy relationship between ourselves and the land and how to work with the seasons.
Participants can make rose rollers, cottonwood salves and herbal teas for their loved ones.
Juneau will receive six hours and 23 mins of sunlight on the solstice. Juneau will gradually get more daylight on Thursday.
