Understanding Edwardson’s work requires a leap—looking inward and questioning the deepest parts of one’s self.

“I’m interested in working with people who seek personal development, and that’s not everybody,” says Edwardson, who was born and raised in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost community in the United States, more than 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. Through her cultural and creative business, Creative Decolonization, Edwardson runs workshops that engage participants through writing and performance, self-reflective questions, and applied research on wellness for self-discovery and healing. She’s especially focused on supporting underserved communities and people who lack resources to heal from trauma.

“I provide a respectful, structured space to explore ourselves and build muscles that help us face what we need to change,” she says. “A lot of times we know we have behavior patterns or fears that keep us from becoming better.”

There’s an intimacy and perspective to Edwardson’s work that comes from navigating a lifetime of adversity. Growing up, she was sexually abused. That led to struggles with PTSD, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Pregnant at 18, she promptly got married. By the time Edwardson arrived at Dartmouth, she was 22, divorced, and the parent of a 3-year-old. “My son was a lifesaver,” she says. “I needed to face things so I could heal and not pass on those traumas to him.” While she studied sociology and theater, her son split his time between Hanover and Texas, where he lived with his father.

Edwardson has long grappled with her cultural identity, which she calls a source of pride and pain. “I’m a white-looking Native. I come from both colonized and decolonized backgrounds,” she says. “It’s like fighting your own history.” Her father is Iñuit and her mother is Norwegian. Aaluk identifies as both. She wears parts of her story on her face, in the form of “kakiñiit,” Inuit tattoos traditionally made for and by women. Her chin tattoo, called “tavluġun,” indicates she’s a mother, and the design—three lines and three dots—represents her connection with her son. Her “qaġġun” or forehead tattoo honors her emotional, spiritual, and mental health.

Today, Edwardson’s work is an extension of her own healing. Since 2018, she has hosted 345 people at 77 workshops, both in person and virtually. Her classes—including writing through chronic pain, understanding cultural identity, and connecting with what you hold sacred—evolve with the interests and needs of the people and organizations she collaborates with.

“Aaluk has navigated one of the most challenging lives I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve seen a lot,” says Richard Strauss, founder and national executive director of Spirit Series, an education- and drama-based organization that teaches students to write and perform one-act historical biographies. He met Edwardson when she spent two years with him as a teaching artist. “She’s on a pretty heroic journey. I hate to say it this way, but she really has no choice. The other option is to give up, and that’s not in her vocabulary. She’s evidence of the indomitable human spirit.”

Last fall, Edwardson, who now lives in New Mexico, launched a podcast, also called Creative Decolonization. She has written poetry for young people healing from sexual abuse. And she earned a 2022  Emmy nomination as one of the writers for Molly of Denali, a PBS Kids show about a 10-year-old Alaskan. She’s also finishing a novel and two children’s books, all tied to her culture, and has taught creative writing and performance at Ilisaġvik College, Alaska’s only tribal college.

“My heart is with Indigenous people, especially those in the lower classes. I often think about the people I grew up with—cousins, friends in abusive homes, those who didn’t get enough to eat or got addicted to drugs or who died by suicide,” she says. “A lot of people from my community need an ear, a resource, a story, a reprieve.”          

Abigail Jones is a frequent contributor to DAM.