Day 10 - Interviews and B-Roll

Every day here on the Navajo Nation during the 2011 Navajo Oral History project has started early and ended late. The students working on the Navajo elder documentaries have bonded with their elders and are working hard to gather and tell their stories respectfully and accurately.

Two groups left in the morning and stopped at Navajo Code Talker Keith Little's home for a third and final interview with Keith.

(Above three photos by Jessica King)

Keith enlightened the group more about his service to the United States during World War II and how he was treated-- and his work celebrated-- since his return home in 1945. Keith's wife, Nellie, spent quite a bit of time digging through photo albums to find pictures of Keith and his family over the years.

It was hard for your blog editor (a Minnesota Viking fan) to find out that Keith Little really likes the Green Bay Packers. This was a joyous moment for Robbie Christiano, a Packer fan since childhood.

The second group in this van did a third interview with Harold Morgan, legislative assistant to the Navajo Tribal Council. As that interview ended, Harold explained the significance of the bell mounted outside the Tribal Council chambers, and rang the bell for the students.

During a short break between interviews, the groups visited the Navajo Nation Museum and Zoo and shot some B-roll of important sites around the Window Rock, Arizona, area.

(Above three photos by Alex Fisher)

(photo by Molly Golden)

About dinner time, the groups stopped at Sawmill, Arizona, at Harold Morgan's place and interviewed Harold's Grandson, Michial, who spoke highly of his grandfather and the things he has learned from him.

This group stopped at a supermarket on the way back to the dorms at Diné College and bought some pizzas to make for dinner.

The two other student work teams left the Diné College campus at 7:15 a.m. and didn't return until after 9 p.m. They spent the day interviewing Mitzie Begay for a third time. As they finished their interviews and prepared to leave, Mitzie gave each of the student journalists gifts and the emotions were high in the room through lots of hugs.

The Navajo language doesn't have a word for "goodbye." Instead, most Diné people prefer to say "Hagoneé" which translates roughly to "until we meet again."

These two student groups also visited with Debbie Dennison, a local school superintendent, who knew Jack Jackson, Sr. (another of the featured elders) well. Along the way, they captured b-roll video of the schools where the featured Navajo elders went as children.

(Above two photos of road construction around the Diné College campus by Alex Fisher., These photos help tell the story of the construction funding secured by Jack Jackson, Sr., one of the featured elders for this year's Oral History project.)

(Above two photos by Alex Fisher)

(above six photos by Dave Dvorak)

The group creating a documentary about former Arizona Senator Jack Jackson, Sr., also interviewed his neice, Deborah Jackson-Dennison, a local school superintendent.

(above two photos by Dave Dvorak)

In the evening, they stopped at the home of Tina James Tafoya, a former Miss Navajo, who now works with Mitzie Begay at the Fort Defiance Indian Health Service Hospital.

NOTE: This second van that included the Jack Jackson, Sr. team and the Mitzie Begay team arrived back at Diné College and immediately started downloading their video, editing their audio and photographs and transcribing their interviews. No pictures from this group, yet. This article may be updated with more images.

Thursday will be a class day and catch-up day. In class, each group will explain the progress on their journalism projects and decide on any last details that must be completed before the Minnesota students leave the Navajo Nation next Tuesday. The rest of the day will be spent running around gathering B-roll and photos to supplement the projects.

It's amazing to Prof. Miranda Haskie and I to see how quickly these young people have bonded with their elders and their fellow students. They are united by the importance of their work and the desire to do an honorable job of telling the amazing stories of their elders.

These students are working hard, pouring their time and talent into these projects. They are learning much about the craft of journalistic story-telling, and even more about themselves as they discover their place in a world that includes the deeply spiritual culture of the Diné (Navajo) People.

Day 3 - First Elder Interviews

Today was a big day for the 2011 Navajo Oral History project.

After a couple months of preparation, a week of ITV classes, and two days of cultural understanding lectures and exercises, the students went into the field today to meet their Navajo elder, do a service project for the elder, then interview the elder for the first time.

There are four journalism teams made up of both Diné College and Winona State University students. Two of the teams had their first interviews today, and the teams that didn't have an interview went along to help on the service project and observe the interview process.

While Prof. Haskie and I try to keep the teams moving forward in a parallel manner, we need to be respectful of the schedules and wishes of our featured elders, which means not all teams are interviewing on the same days.

One team went to visit Mitzie Begay in Window Rock, Arizona. Mitzi is a Navajo culture and health liaison for the Indian Health Service at Fort Defiance Hospital. Mitzi didn't have a service project in mind for the students, so they started right in on the interview. The next time this group visits her they hope to be able to do some chores in return for her time and her life stories.

(Tashina Johnson and Molly Golden connect the microphone and prepare Mitzie for her interview.)

(Molly Golden and Dave Dvorak discuss the angle and alignment of the camera for the shot.)

(Above seven photos by Alex Fisher)

A second team drove out to Sawmill, Arizona, to the home of Harold Morgan, who for 28 years has served as the chief legislative assistant for the Navajo Tribal Council. This group cleaned and stacked a pile of scrap lumber, raked and smoothed a farm field (about 3 acres) that Harold had plowed earlier in the week, and picked up trash along the highway and fence bordering the Moragn's land.

(Josh Averbeck, Jessica King, Alyssa Reimers, Michael Ruka and Robbie Christiano working the field)

(Trevor Foster and Lionel Harvey cleaning up scrap lumber)

(Michael Ruka working the field)

(Josh Averbeck working the field)

(Alyssa Reimers and Robbie Christiano working the field)

(Alyssa Reimers, Jessica King and Robbie Christiano picking up trash)

(Josh Averbeck, Michael Ruka and Lionel Harvey in the field)

The last photo above has a second story line... It contains evidence of how Michael Ruka earned a new nickname: "SPF 1000."

Each year during the Navajo Oral History project, I assign fun nicknames to each student. These usually come from a unique and humorous occurrence. I've been thinking about nicknames for everyone, but they have to leap out at me. Robbie Christiano suggested the "SPF 1000" nickname for Michael after he gained a hot sun, high-altitude, sunburn today. It's not too bad (don't worry Annie and Al), but he is applying Aloe Vera frequently.

Other nicknames will be explained via this blog as they are awarded.

After lunch, the group drove to Window Rock to the Tribal Council chambers and interviewed Harold Morgan there.

(Above three photos by Robbie Christiano)

(above two photos by Josh Averbeck)

(Lionel Harvey interviewed Harold Morgan while Michael Ruka operated the video camera and Robbie Christiano and Alyssa Reimers took still photos.)

In the late afternoon, while on a walk near the Diné College campus, Alex Fisher and Molly Golden made a new friend.

(Above two photos by Dave Dvorak)

In the evening, the students started downloading digital video, audio and still photos, and will begin editing and transcribing tomorrow.

A third group is interviewing Jack Jackson, Sr. on Thursday. Jack served as a senator in the Arizona Legislature for nearly 20 years and is retiring from the Diné Policy Institute at Diné College this year.

The fourth team will be interviewing Keith Little a World War II Navajo Code Talker. Keith's schedule was busy this week, so that group will have their first interview on Monday. In the meantime, those team members have been helping the other groups.

The projects are off to a great start and the student teams are really beginning to gel as the students get to know each other and each individual's strengths.