Perspectives for the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding School Survivors

Oct 6

Tue, October 6, 2026 • 12:00pm - 1:30pm (1h 30m) • Olin 141

A studio portrait of Denise Lajimodiere, an Indigenous woman with long, straight silver-gray hair falling over her shoulders. She is wearing a red v-neck top, silver dragonfly drop earrings, and soft red lipstick, set against a dark background.

In honor of the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding School Survivors, also known as Orange Shirt Day, Carleton Indigenous Engagement and the Division of Inclusion, Equity, and Community will welcome Dr. Denise Lajimodiere. She served as Carleton's inaugural Elder in Residence in 2022, co-founded the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, and won numerous awards for her academic books, poetry, and Children's book. She has worked for decades with boarding school survivors and remains dedicated to sharing their stories widely.

This event is included in Indigenous Engagement fall programming for campus acknowledging the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding School Survivors, Indigenous Peoples Day, and National Native American Heritage Month.

BIOGRAPHY

Denise is an enrolled Citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Belcourt, North Dakota. She has been involved in education for forty-four years as an Elementary teacher, Principal, and professor, earning her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees from the University of North Dakota. Dr. Lajimodiere is a retired Associate Professor from the School of Education, Ed. Leadership program, North Dakota State University, Fargo. Denise recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Dakota State University. She is one of the founders of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) and was recently hired as an Oral Historian, Denise is a poet – Dragonfly Dance; Thunderbird; Bitter Tears; His Feathers Were Chains; Children’s book author, Josie Dances, and academic book author, Stringing Rosaries: The History, The Unforgivable, The Healing of Northern Plains Boarding School Survivors. She was named the first Native American North Dakota Poet Laureate. 2023-2028. Denise is a traditional Jingle Dress dancer, Ojibwe Birch Bark Biting artist, and lives in a cozy cottage by a lake on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.

Attendance at this event counts towards IDE Community education.

from Division of Inclusion, Equity, and Community

Event Contact: iec-division@carleton.edu