Indigenous youth and elders brought digital stories to life at a week-long workshop in Whitehorse last week. The workshop at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre was led by Vancouver-based company Hands on Media Education. The digital stories combined photos, voice, music and text and focused on the participants' life stories and sense of belonging.
Savannah Lenz was the workshop's youngest participant. At nine years old, her digital story focused on her family and two dogs. She said the project's technology was exciting.
"We talk in it with a microphone and after that we have a lot of pictures of what we're doing." Jessie Curell is the executive director of Hands On Media Education and led the workshop in Whitehorse. She first combined youth and elders in this workshop a few years ago with the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation in Dawson City.
The goal was to ensure the program had a lasting impact. "I wanted to really share the knowledge of how to do this workshop with the youth so that they could continue the workshop after I'd gone, so that I'm sunsetting myself out of the program." Curell said one of the program's goals was to create a positive association with technology for elders.
"A lot of elders in my experience are a little hesitant to use technology and don't really see themselves using iPads, certainly for movie creation." She added that when people reject technology, they miss out on the "beauty and power" that comes from various digital tools. Margaret McKay pos.