Intergenerational Native Digital Storytelling Project
Northern Arizona University proposes an interdisciplinary and intergenerational project that focuses on Native American history and culture. The primary goal is to foster intergenerational learning of southwestern Native American history and culture. The project centers around youth meeting and interacting with elders while visiting places with special cultural meaning, examining artifacts pertinent to their tribal histories, and listening to and telling meaningful stories. In addition, it embodies self-representation and the forming of leadership skills. During the course of working with six regional tribes (Hopi, Zuni, Dine, Yavapai Apache, Gila River, and Hualapai) the project aids in building capacity for learning culture and history within communities and outward to other Nations.
To fulfill this goal we propose a digital storytelling model where Native youth pair with elders to form personal, thoughtful reflections and connections to places, objects, culture, and identity. Using multimedia tools, our team will participate in placed based storytelling at a variety of venues across the American Southwest that feature considerable cultural and historical resources that are significant to our nation’s history. The project will result in a DVD film and provide a web-based forum where southwestern Native youth and elders share their digital stories with each other and with the public at large. The project culminates with a nation-wide Native Digital Storytelling Summit that includes a digital storytelling festival (showing of gathered stories), presentations and discussions, alternative storytelling methods, and breakout training sessions in digital storytelling production.
Since human’s origins, storytelling has been a universal. Stories are everywhere, like leaves on trees. And like the trees, stories are rooted in the earth and in place. They connect people to place, to a homeland that one truly never leaves. People tell stories to entertain, to illustrate proper behavior, and to explain the inexplicable. Stories are the threads that make up the social fabric of our collective memory. They are society's glue—tools that transmit the culture of present and past generations to future generations. In Native American cultures, stories perform these tasks and provide deeper meanings through visual and graphic representations. Through Native language, stories produce durable symbols of cultural landscapes and histories while furthering the reach of traditional knowledge, wisdom, and associated values.
Northern Arizona University’s Intergenerational Native Digital Storytelling Project seeks to broaden the reach and scope of mainstream documentary and traditional storytelling by employing the techniques of Digital Storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving together images, music, narrative, and voice—giving dimension and color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights that are important in American history and culture. Digital storytelling asserts the autobiographical voice of the people as a living memory and a direct perspective of those who create the stories.
A digital story is a brief and meaningful narrative that comes from the heart. They are “mini-movies” created by people directly involved in the story. They are written in the first person, reflecting that individual’s innermost feelings about a topic. Once written, the story is narrated and placed into video editing software. Images are scanned and prepared for video editing. In the end, music, titles, credits, and occasional special effects complete the process. Video clips of places and interviews are often included. Digital storytelling projects present new approaches to documenting living history and culture.
