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 poses in this photo taken by Shirley Smith as part of the workshop.
(Submitted by Jessie Curell) That was where the youth came in. In addition to working on their own stories, youth assisted elders with some of their technological uncertainties. "The elders were really willing to learn and you could tell they were stepping out of their comfort bubble.
It was cool seeing them work together," said Carissa Waugh, a youth participant. But the teaching went both ways. "You have elders learning from the youth on how to use the iPad, but then the youth are learning from the elders about this important knowledge that they're sharing about their life," Curell said.
New workshop series brings traditional knowledge to downtown Whitehorse Career fair emphasizes two-eyed seeing in preparing Mi'kmaw youth for post-secondary Some elders said this workshop empowered them to record their own histories. "I'm 75 years old, so I'm getting on to the stage of life where it's time to start reflecting back and I wanna leave my family with something," said Margaret McKay, a Kwanlin Dün First Nation elder. The digital creations will be screened at a community feast Monday night from 5 to 8 p.
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