How does touch affect our mental and physical health?

Debra Jay

Lands and Waters Acknowledgement

The Alaska Palliative Massage Initiative honors that our work is rooted in the traditional and contemporary homelands of the Dena’ina people — Dena’ina Ełnena. We give thanks for their deep and enduring stewardship of these lands and waters, which continue to sustain life, connection, and healing. We also recognize that our work extends across the homelands of many Indigenous peoples throughout Alaska, each with their own wisdom, traditions, and ways of caring for one another at life’s thresholds.

We acknowledge and honor the generations of Alaska Native peoples who have carried knowledge of death, dying, grief, and care since time immemorial. Wisdom that guides and grounds us today. AKPMI is committed to walking this path with humility, working to decolonize end-of-life care, and striving to embody equity, inclusivity, and reverence in all we do.