LIVING BRECK’S MISSION

Leah Lussier Sixkiller ’03, Hannah Lussier ’05, and Gary Lussier Jr. ’08 all

pursued careers that give back — and their Breck education helped set them up for success

It was unspoken in the Lussier household, but Leah Lussier Sixkiller ’03, Hannah Lussier ’05, and Gary Lussier Jr. ’08 all instinctively knew they’d go into careers that gave back to their community in some way.

“A major part of a lot of American Indian cultures, and ours in particular, is that it’s just a given that you give back to that from what you take,” explains Leah. “It’s meant to be a cycle or a circle, and it’s not even a question for us that we would do that.”

As citizens of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and raised by Gary Lussier and Carol Engstrom-Lussier in the South Minneapolis urban Indian community, the Lussier siblings charted their own distinct paths after graduating from Breck: Leah works as an attorney and judge, Hannah as a mental health counselor, and Gary Jr. as an educator. But what ties their careers together is a deep dedication to serving local American Indian people, their culture, and the community in which they were raised. They all also have a profound appreciation for their Breck education and the many ways it has set them up for success in their professional lives — and beyond.

“Breck gave me so much. I really, truly believe that it helped me become a lifelong learner,” says Gary Jr. “I feel confident that if I want to learn anything, for the rest of my life, I am able to do that.”

Impact in the courtroom

Current Board of Trustees member and parent to Ella Sixkiller ’32, Sylvie Sixkiller ’34 and two future Mustangs, Leah (pictured above) didn’t know she wanted to be an attorney until, during an Indian studies course in college, she learned just how much law and policy can affect Indian individuals and nations.

She studied at the University of Arizona, one of the preeminent schools for Indian law, before working for nearly a decade at a prestigious law firm in Minneapolis, practicing almost exclusively in business and financial transactions in Indian country. “It’s a really specialized area of law, but I loved it,” she says.

About a year and a half ago, Leah was appointed as a judge for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux

Community, where she presides predominantly over civil matters within their community. She is also of counsel at Hogan Adams PLLC, a boutique Indian law firm in St. Paul.

“I never, ever thought I would be a judge,” she says. “It’s very fulfilling work, and I’m honored and proud to do it. I feel like I am doing something to really help the people there.”

Echoing the sentiment of her brother, Leah sees how Breck helped her become a lifelong learner, and how that quality aids the work she does everyday as a judge. “Indian law is one of the most fascinating bodies of law in the world. Each tribe has its own laws, so you’re operating on a federal, state, and tribal level,” she says. “It keeps me always learning and always having to improve upon my understanding.”

Healing minds and spirits

Hannah (pictured below) has also spent her entire career working for and with indigenous people. Today, she works as a mental health counselor at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center in South Minneapolis. Anyone who comes to her clinic seeking services must be enrolled in a tribe or have a parent or grandparent who is enrolled.

Mental health counseling is historically a Western method of healing — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective and beneficial for Native populations. As an anishinaabekwe — an Anishinaabe woman — who has struggled with mental health challenges in the past, Hannah sees herself as uniquely qualified to serve her Native clients and show them the power of therapy.

“One thing that I think makes me a good counselor is I’ve had experience doing tons of therapy, but I’ve also had the experience doing it in a very white system,” she explains. “In my work, I’m trying to figure out how to indigenize counseling and how I can do it in a way that is integrating cultural competency and cultural aspects.”

Hannah also feels she’s been able to find success in her field because Breck helped teach her “how to become a really high functioning human” and gave her space to understand and nurture her identity.

“Breck does a good job of shaping an individual within a community. It helped me figure out who I am and what my identity is,” she says. “A lot of the mental health field is about finding your authenticity and your identity. If you’re going to go into that field, you have to know yourself — know who you are, where you came from, what your story is, and what your peoples’ story is.”

Modeling the way

Youngest child Gary Jr. (pictured above) is no different than his sisters in his dedication to a career that gives back to the community. As a public school educator, he has also followed in the footsteps of his parents, who both worked in inner city schools that served American Indian students.

Today, Gary Jr. is a teacher at Anishinabe Academy, a school within the Minneapolis Public Schools that has a focus on Dakota and Ojibwe language and culture. It is one of the only elementary schools of its kind in the area, and students are bused there from all over the city.

“It’s a small school, but we’re working with some of the most underserved students in the city,” he says. “It’s very important work, and I love working there.” Gary is currently studying to someday be a school principal, too.

Leah is quick to point out that, as both a Native and male teacher, her brother sets an important — and often missing — example for his students. “There are not many Indian teachers and specifically male teachers,” she shares. “Gary is the gold standard of what our schools and our children need to see as an example.”

As an educator himself, Gary is especially in tune with how his

Breck education has influenced his professional success. “I feel like I have a curious mind and a growth mindset. I know that if I put my mind to something, I can do it. And Breck is the reason for that,” he says. “I truly believe that I am a far more literate person, a far more loquacious person, and a far more confident person because of Breck. And I’m extremely grateful for that.”

Opening doors

Leah, Hannah, and Gary Jr. acknowledge that without Breck, they may not be the people they are today. But without their parents, they never would have gone to Breck in the first place.

The story goes that the Lussiers saw a Breck ad in The Circle, a Native American newspaper, when Leah was in preschool, and the rest was history. “My parents say Breck had a big campaign to recruit Native students,” says Hannah. “I don’t know that other schools did at that time, but Breck was making a conscious effort about that.”

As public school educators, the Lussiers made a conscious choice — and a major sacrifice — to send Leah, Hannah, and Gary Jr. to Breck because they understood the kinds of doors the school could open for their children.

“I think that sending us to Breck was a very selfless, very powerful way for my Dad to try to give his children more opportunity in life than he had. When they did it, they knew it would improve our lives,” says Gary Jr. “I’m forever grateful for that.”

Leah agrees: “We knew that our parents were sacrificing a lot to send us here,” she says. “We didn’t take it for granted.”

In their work and in the way they choose to move throughout the world, the Lussier siblings are living Breck’s mission every single day — and serve as shining examples of what it means to be a Mustang. B

DID YOU KNOW?

For the last several decades, Gary Lussier Sr. (former Breck School Trustee, father of Leah Lussier Sixkiller ’03, Hannah Lussier ’05, and Gary Lussier Jr. ’08, and grandparent to Ella Sixkiller ’32 and Sylvie Sixkiller ’34) has ensured that Breck was able to offer the Prayer of the Four Directions as the invocation at our Baccalaureate ceremony. The traditional Lakota prayer includes setting your gaze in the four cardinal directions, as well as looking toward the sky and earth, all as a way of honoring our ancestors and the Great Spirit as our guide. Gary’s wife, Carol EngstromLussier, mother of Leah, Hannah, and Gary Jr. and grandparent of Ella and Sylvie, was also a long-time substitute teacher at Breck. We are grateful for both Gary and Carol’s many years of service and leadership to our Breck community.