2010 Navajo Oral History receptions

The life stories of four Navajo elders are featured in student-made documentary films that will be premiered at Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota, on Friday, Oct. 8, and at Diné College, Tsaile, Arizona, on Monday, Oct. 11.

The Winona State reception begins at 5 p.m. in the atrium of the WSU Science Laboratory Center. The Diné College reception begins at 5 p.m. in the Fourth Floor Classroom of the Ned Hatathli Center at Diné College's Tsaile campus.

Six students from Diné College collaborated with seven students from Winona State University to research, interview, photograph and video record Navajo elders over a two-week period in May 2010. The students, participating in the 2010 Navajo Oral History project, wrote, edited and produced documentary films that will be archived at the Navajo Nation Museum and Library. This is the second year of the documentary journalism project.

This year's films feature Andrew Brady, an air force veteran, retired coal miner, and farmer from Shiprock, N. M.; John Kinsel, Sr., a World War II Navajo Code Talker from Lukachukai, Ariz.; Lettie Nave, an educator and community leader from Tsaile; and Marjorie "Grandma" Thomas, an educator, author and fundraiser for a Navajo youth center from Chinle, Ariz.

The documentaries were part of a collaborative project led by Dr. Miranda Haskie of Diné College and Dr. Tom Grier of Winona State University.

Student teams completed service projects for the Navajo elders and interviewed each elder several times. They also interviewed friends, colleagues and family members of the elders and did background research while on the Navajo Nation.

After the premiere event, short versions of the films will be available for viewing on the WSU Mass Communication department's news lab web site: Winona360.org.

The premiere will include comments from the faculty and students involved. Several Diné College students will travel to WSU to be present at the Winona reception, and several WSU students will travel to Diné College for the reception there. At the Diné College reception, the featured elders present will also speak about the experience.

Light refreshments will be served before the presentation of the films. The reception and premiere events are free and open to the public.

The students who researched, wrote, edited and produced the documentaries are: from Diné College: Altyn Burnside, Marcus A. Lake, Revaline Nez, Shaina Nez, and Ernestine Sanisya; and from Winona State University: Ben Chambers, Robbie Christiano, Sawyer Derry, Brianna Klapperich, Michael Ruka, Kelly Sharratt, and Jennifer Westman.

For more information, contact Dr. Miranda Haskie (email: mhaskie@dinecollege.edu) or Dr. Tom Grier (email: tgrier@winona.edu).

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day #5 - Interviews With Elders

Today was our day to do some work for our featured elders, to build a relationship with them, and then interview the elder.

The three elders interviewed today were:

- John Kinsel, a Navajo Code Talker during World War II who lives in Lukachukai, Arizona, at the foot of the Chuska Mountains. Today was the first meeting with John for the team working on his Living History feature: Marcus Lake and Revaline Nez (DC), and Michael Ruka and Jennifer Westman (WSU).

- Lettie Nave, a retired school teacher and community leader in Chinle, Arizona. If you've been reading the blog during this journey, you already met Lettie in yesterday's blog entry about our groups' camping experience with the Nave family in Canyon de Chelly. Lettie was interviewed for the second time by Sawyer Derry and Brianna Klapperich (WSU) and Ernestine Sanisya (DC).

- Grandmother Marjorie Thomas, a retired educator, asst. school superintendent, and community leader who has several times led a walk across the Navajo Nation to raise money for a youth center. The team working on Grandmother Thomas' feature who met her for the first time today consists of Robbie Christiano (WSU), Gwyndolyn Neboyia (DC) and Kelly Sharatt (WSU).

The group interviewing John Kinsel found he was eager to tell his story. They quickly set up their gear and began recording shortly after they arrived, because he had already launched into stories of his time as a code talker. He said he didn't have any chores for them to do today, but he'd probably have them remove a stump or two when they returned for their second interview.

(above two photos by Michael Ruka)

(above two photos by Miranda Haskie)

(above two photos by Jennifer Westman)

Lettie Nave said she had many chores for us to do. "You'll have to stay all summer!" she said. Her interview group dug compost holes, re-set some fence posts, picked up trash, stacked wood, and organized sheet metal and other things around her and her husband Flemin's home and yard in Tsaile, Arizona.

I was with the group that interviewed Grandmother Marjorie Thomas. We visited with Grandmother and her daughter, Leona, who assigned us to weed a flower garden and turn the soil in their vegetable garden. While weeding, Robbie and Altyn noticed a broken gate, so they repaired it. While turning the soil, Leona mentioned she wished she had time to spread manure on the garden for fertilizer. We dug several wheelbarrows and trash barrels full of manure and turned it into the garden soil. Ben, Kelly and Altyn helped feed the cows and Altyn repaired another section of fence that was falling down.

(photo of Tom Grier actually working by Kelly Sharatt)

(In the above photo, Altyn was using a small branch to try to shade Kelly's already sunburned shoulder.)

The fourth group, which will have their first interview with their Navajo elder tomorrow, consists of Ben Chambers (WSU) and Altyn Burnside and Shaina Nez. Since they didn't have an interview today, they came along to Grandma Thomas' Hogan and helped.

It was a day of hard work and sweat, but it felt good to be helping the elders and knowing we were making a positive difference in their lives. The interviews went well and the students all felt they gathered great material for their documentary projects. They started working on photos and video and audio interviews immediately upon returning to the Diné College dorms.

Brianna Klapperich and Robbie Christiano made a great dinner with an Italian theme: spaghetti with either alfredo sauce or a tomato sauce, with chicken, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, and salad. After everyone was satisfied, we all went outside for a fun game of disc golf around the DC campus.

Later in the evening a group watched a movie on a laptop computer, while others continued to work on their projects.

Everything is going great.

I have a theory that even if activities don't go exactly as planned, things naturally work out for the best here on the Navajo Nation. Example: While driving to Grandma Thomas' place, I spotted a tool in the middle of the road. I stopped to pick up the tool to help other drivers avoid tire damage. It was a fence-mending tool, which we ended up needing as we worked on Grandma Thomas' gardens.

As always, thanks for reading these blog posts and keeping up to date with our activities. Feel free to add your comments below. I noticed today that the blog site has had more than 800 page views in the past three days. I know the students really enjoy knowing that their friends and family are following along.

-- Tom Grier

On Sunday, Nov. 15, a group of seven Winona State University students and two faculty members flew to Arizona to attend a reception at Diné College honoring the collaborative journalism projects completed this past summer by students of both institutions.

It was nearly 50 degrees back home in Winona, Minnesota, while there was snow on the ground in Tsaile, Arizona.

While on campus on Monday, Nov. 16, the students attended Dr. Miranda Haskie's class and heard guest speaker Perry Charlie discuss environmental issues and energy concerns of the Navajo Nation.

Monday evening, about 100 people attended the premier and reception and watched several documentary journalism projects focused on the lives of five Navajo elders. Three of the elders were present and commented on the projects following viewing of their features.

The evening began with comments by Dr. Miranda Haskie of Diné College, one of the organizers of the journalism collaboration.

Dr. Ferlin Clark, president of Diné College, the Tribal College of the Navajo Nation, gave a keynote address congratulating the students on their hard work and dedication, and thanking them for their important contribution to preserving the stories of the elders.

Organizers then showed several of the student projects and invited comments from each of the students involved, and then the elders.

As the program came to a close, Dr. Cindy Killion and Dr. Tom Grier, members of the faculty of the Winona State University Department of Mass Communication, described their feelings about the collaboration and future plans for similar programs.

Short versions of the journalism projects are available for viewing on the WSU Mass Communication department's web site: http://winona360.org.