Anchored Histories Library of Congress grant supports Alaska educators in telling stories through film By Debra McKinney
laska history is an eclectic stew of stories: stories of booms and busts, of Indigenous oppression and resilience, of invaders, explorers, missionaries, fortune seekers, heroes, scoundrels, politicians, justice, and injustice. Alaska educators from St. Michael to Hydaburg learned new ways of exploring, researching, and sharing such stories while negotiating the uncharted territory of this pandemic school year. Through the professional development workshop Anchored Histories, 14 participants learned how to access the gold mine of primary sources available through the Library of Congress, as well as other national, regional, state, and local archives. They learned how to research, script, narrate, film, and edit short digital documentaries while gaining new skills to bring to their classrooms. Topics they took on include the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, the life of a Yup’ik linguist, Dena’ina storytelling, the Alaska Railroad, the Matanuska Valley colonists, and the revival of Haida totem poles and Yup’ik dance, once shamed to the brink of extinction. Created by Marie Acemah in partnership with the Alaska Humanities Forum and the UAA Professional and Continuing Education Program, Anchored Histories was a free, two-credit graduate-level course funded by a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant. As founder and director of the nonprofit storytell-
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ing organization See Stories, Acemah is, as she puts it, a “story midwife.” Her award-winning work with youth and adults has taken her to Uganda, Liberia, and elsewhere around the globe. Recently, Acemah, Iñupiaq filmmaker Howdice Brown III, and Iñupiaq podcast host Alice Qannik Glenn collaborated with the Southern “Students who Poverty Law Center to produce a documentary on the enslavement of Indigenous are struggling peoples called, “The Forgotten Slavery of to succeed really Our Ancestors.” In the past decade, Acemah has worked connect with digital mostly in Alaska, leading documentary film and teacher-training projects in cities storytelling. They and villages throughout the state, working primarily with Indigenous, immigrant, often have the and refugee youth to build inclusive communities through storytelling and film. most tremendous “Film, especially when working with outcomes and young people, it’s the medium they’re already engaged with,” she said. “You don’t gratifying results.” have to sell the idea. Look at TikTok, look at all the social media platforms; they are hooked. So it’s taking that natural interest and combining it with the humanities in a deeper way. It’s almost like tricking students into loving school. I’ve found that the students who are struggling to succeed really connect with digital storytelling. They often have the most tremendous outcomes and gratifying results.”
