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).

Navajo Oral History 2010 - Documentary Journalism Partnership

In May 2010, the second year of a collaborative project between Winona State University (Winona, Minn.) and Diné College (Tsaile, Ariz.) begins.

Last summer, a group of WSU students traveled to the Navajo Nation to work in small group partnerships with students of Diné College, the Tribal College of the Navajo Nation. The groups spent three weeks doing service learning projects for five Navajo elders, then researching, interviewing, photographing, video recording, writing, editing and producing documentary projects focused on the lives of those elders.

The projects were completed by late summer and receptions were held at both institutions in fall to premiere the documentaries and celebrate the students' work. Those films are now archived at the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Nation Library, and at Diné College and Winona State University.

Now, another group of students of both schools are preparing to work together and complete more Navajo Oral History projects in May 2010.

The seven WSU student participants will begin meeting in early May, just after spring semester classes end. The group travels to the Navajo Nation in mid-May, and will spend two weeks there, based in residence hall facilities at Diné College.

Again the students will complete service learning projects for elders, then produce documentaries about elders' lives. While on the Navajo Nation, the students will experience Navajo culture through a variety of activities including a visit to Window Rock, Arizona, a tour of Navajo Tribal Government offices, a hike into historic Canyon del Muerto, and a visit to ancient ruins in Canyon De Chelly National Monument. Also planned is an overnight camp-out on the site of a Navajo Sheep Camp in the Lukachukai mountains and an evening at a Navajo Rodeo.

Before they leave for Arizona, the Winona students are reading historical and cultural texts to help them prepare to be knowledgeable and respectful as they meet and work with the Navajo elders.

The goal of the documentary projects is to record and archive stories of Navajo elders that might not otherwise be saved. A secondary goal of the program is to help Diné College develop journalism and mass communication programming that can serve as a career preparation curriculum for DC students.

During the class, this blog will serve as a connection point for students, families and friends who want to remain updated on the groups' activities. I plan to update the blog frequently with information and photos highlighting the students and their experiences and accomplishments.

For those new to this program, please consider spending some time scrolling through older blog pages to see some of the activities from last-year's projects. Then, if you wish, take a few minutes to view the short, media-friendly versions of the 2009 student projects on Winona360.org. The names of the elders featured last year and links to their documentaries are pasted below.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this important cross-cultural collaboration.

-- Tom Grier, Winona State University

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2009 Navajo Oral History Projects

Beulah Allen

Wilson Aronilth

Ruth Roessel

Sam Tso

Harry Walters

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.