Let's get rid of this racist painting at the Rasmuson Library. It’s on the third floor.

It is a hurtful reminder of what Alaska Native people have been through in the past. Our cultures have been erased by cultural genocide in the form of boarding schools.

Each of us feel a piece missing, a piece of our culture that was taken from these boarding schools. The whole purpose of these schools was to “kill the Indian, save the man.”

They stole our language and way of life. The trauma that these schools caused is still felt today. They are not a forgotten thing of our past and the mural Cry in the Wilderness is a distasteful reminder of this.

It represents a white version of history that blatantly ignores the suffering of Alaskan Natives. Depicting missionaries as saviors of the Alaskan Natives is inaccurate and harmful.

The false history it promotes needs to go.

Our end goal is to remove Cry in the Wilderness from the Rasmuson Library. It does not belong on public display where it causes harm to UAF students, faculty, and library patrons. We want an inclusive and safe educational environment for all who study, teach, or visit the Rasmuson Library and UAF campus.