Navajo Oral History Premiere at Diné College

Since students from both Diné College and Winona State University worked on the 2010 Navajo Oral History project together, it is fitting to celebrate and premiere the films together, and on both campuses. On Friday, Oct. 8, the documentaries were premiered at WSU in Minnesota, and on Monday, Oct. 11, a reception and premiere event was held at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona.

Six WSU students, a faculty member and two parents of a student flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico, then rented a van and drove to the Navajo Nation. Along the way they stopped at Canyon de Chelly National Monument to see the amazing Spider Rock in the canyon from one of the overlooks.

(Tom Grier, Sawyer Derry, Brianna Klapperich, Jenn Westman, Kelly Sharratt, Robbie Christiano, Al Ruka, Michael Ruka, Annie Ruka; photo by an unnamed tourist, amazingly from Galesville, Wis., who was at Spider Rock at the same time, and offered to take a group photo.)

On Monday, the WSU group drove to the Diné College main campus in Tsaile, Arizona, and again stopped at a couple of the overlook areas above the Canyon Del Muerto branch of Canyon de Chelly.

(Sawyer Derry and Robbie Christiano look down into Canyon Del Muerto)

(Michael Ruka at the Mummy Cave overlook of Canyon Del Muerto)

On the DC campus, the WSU group was a guest in Dr. Miranda Haskie's class on Native Americans in Society and learned quite a bit. The group then had lunch in the Diné College cafeteria or snack shop and bought some souvenirs at the DC Bookstore.

(Sawyer Derry, Michael Ruka, Kelly Sharratt, Robbie Christiano, Brianna Klapperich and Jenn Westman posing with the poster announcing the Navajo Oral History premiere event.)

(Dr. Miranda Haskie leads her Diné College class on Native Americans in Society.)

(WSU guests in Dr. Haskie's class)

(Brianna Klapperich with her Diné College cafeteria lunch)

In the afternoon, the group enjoyed a demonstration by Vernon Haskie, a museum-quality Navajo silversmith (and husband of Diné College faculty member, Miranda Haskie). Vernon and Miranda then led the group up to Buffalo Pass in the Chuska Mountains above Lukachukai, Arizona, for an amazing view of the Navajo Nation on both sides of the mountain.

In the evening, Dr. Haskie and Diné College hosted a reception and premiere at which the 2010 Navajo Oral history films were shown, and the students and elders present shared comments about their role in the productions. It was an emotional evening as the students beamed with pride as people watched their work, and the elders smiled as they saw the films about themselves for the first time.

Each elder received several copies of the films for themselves and their family. Additional copies will be archived at the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Nation Library, and at the libraries of Diné College and Winona State University.

On Tuesday morning, Oct. 12, the WSU group headed to the Albuquerque airport, through Window Rock, Arizona, and back home to Minnesota.

Plans are already in the works for the 2011 Navajo Oral History project which will take place over a two-week period in June 2011, again pairing students from Diné College and Winona State University in teams to interview Navajo elders and produce documentaries about their lives. Those interested in participating in the 2011 project should contact either Dr. Miranda Haskie at Diné College or Dr. Tom Grier at Winona State University.

(All photos by Tom Grier, unless otherwise noted.)

2010 Navajo Oral History Films Premiered

Students of Diné College of the Navajo Nation worked collaboratively with students from Winona State University of Winona, Minnesota, during summer 2010 on a series of documentary films focused on the lives of Navajo elders.

This fall, the students celebrated together on both campuses, to honor the elders and premiere the completed films.

From October 7-9, several students from Diné College travelled to Winona with their faculty leader, Dr. Miranda Haskie. While in Minnesota, they spent a couple hours at the Mall of America, then drove the Great River Road along the Mississippi River to enjoy the beauty of the river and the gorgeous fall color.

(Ernestine Sanisya at the Maiden Rock turnout overlooking the Mississippi River.)

(Altyn Burnside reads the legend of The Maiden at the Maiden Rock turnout overlooking the Mississippi River.)

(Miranda Haskie, Altyn Burnside, Shaina Nez, Ernestine Sanisya, Revaline Nez, and Tom Grier; photo by Kaitlyn Haskie)

The Diné College guests sat in on a journalism class at Winona State where they were interviewed about the Oral History project. They also stopped at the WSU Bookstore for some shopping for souvenirs of their trip to Minnesota.

During the day, they enjoyed a quick lunch at the Nelson Cheese Shop in Nelson, Wis., and a snack at the famous Bloedow's bakery in Winona. They also enjoyed the stunning overview of Winona and the Mississippi River valley from Garvin Heights in Winona.

In the evening of Friday, Oct. 8, the students and their families, friends and community members came together to watch the finished video documentaries in a lecture hall at Winona State University. The students each spoke about their involvement in the project and what it has meant to them from an education standpoint, and from the view of preparing for a career after graduation.

(Shaina Nez, Altyn Burnside, Ben Chambers)

(Revaline Nez, Jennifer Westman, Michael Ruka)

(Ernestine Sanisya, Brianna Klapperich, Sawyer Derry)

(Kelly Sharratt, Robbie Christiano)

(The WSU-Diné College Navajo Oral History group; photo by Kaitlyn Haskie)

After the reception, the Diné College group headed back to the Twin Cities where they stayed near the airport to catch an early flight home to Arizona. Along the way, Altyn Burnside stopped at Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minn., to offer a prayer and fill a bottle with Mississippi River water to take home with him.

Plans are already in the works for the 2011 Navajo Oral History project which will take place over a two-week period in June 2011, again pairing students from Diné College and Winona State University in teams to interview Navajo elders and produce documentaries about their lives. Those interested in participating in the 2011 project should contact either Dr. Miranda Haskie at Diné College or Dr. Tom Grier at Winona State University.

(All photos by Tom Grier unless otherwise noted.)

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).