Chickaloon tribal member chronicles ancient tales with anime-style artwork (fwd)

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Chickaloon tribal member chronicles ancient tales with anime-style
artwork

By JOSH NIVA
Anchorage Daily News
http://www.adn.com/life/story/6285692p-6161026c.html

Published: March 18th, 2005
Last Modified: March 18th, 2005 at 04:12 AM

Dimi Macheras lists the greats as his early artistic influences:
Donatello. Raphael. Michelangelo. Leonardo.

Not those old dudes from the Renaissance, but those cool green guys from
the sewers -- the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"I was in first grade when the Ninja Turtles came out," Macheras, 23,
said. "The Turtles had a really profound effect on me, and that carries
with me today, taking something as simple as a turtle and really making
it interesting."

Macheras knows all about giving fascinating makeovers to everyday
creatures. It's his job, in many ways. He's the cultural arts director
for Chickaloon Village Traditional Council and a member of the tribe.
For the past two years, he's worked on a project that -- much like the
Turtles -- gives old legends life through modern media. He's
illustrating ancient Native stories with anime-style artwork and
snagging new young fans along the way.

The Koht'aen Kenaege' Project was launched almost three years ago to
revive and teach the oral language Ahtna Athabascan. The final product
was recently completed: an interactive package of eight CD-ROMs with
lessons spanning alphabet and symbol introduction, pronunciation,
conversation and the complete retelling of traditional stories.

Macheras was brought in to provide the visuals. Almost every image came
from his hand and imagination: the moose ("difficult to draw"),
squirrels ("easy to draw"), trees, homes, humans and complex
storytelling scenes.

One of Macheras' favorite assignments was creating interpretations of
two Athabascan stories ("Besiin" and "The Grizzly Bear") often told by
his grandmother, Katie Wade. Wade, 83, is the matriarch of Chickaloon
Village, the founder of Chickaloon's Ya Ne Dah Ah School and the
Koht'aen Kenaege' Project's living link to the language.

Macheras has heard the stories since he was a child and still can't get
enough. He promised his grandmother he wouldn't change content even if
it was raw (in "Besiin," an owl swoops into a village and abducts a
crying child). In turn, his grandmother gave him artistic freedom for
his interpretations.

"I have so much room to work with; it's the best setting I could ask
for," he said.

Macheras gave a modern touch to the tales, using styles similar to
popular cartoons and Japanimation, comic books and graphic novels and
even films like Disney's "Brother Bear." Macheras said his art is also
energized by music, especially hard-driving electronic genres like
drum&bass, which constantly bumps from his computer speakers. He says
it gives him the charge to tackle the demanding stories; each runs 30
to 40 pages.

"I hope it shows in my work that I'm having a good time drawing this
stuff," he said.

It does. The art breathes with the same kinetic buzz found in Macheras'
music. Bears, owls and people leap off the page in dynamic motion and
color. Humans morph into threatening grizzly bears while other humans,
some looking like ninjas, wage battle with owls and killer salmon.

His modern approach is also evident in smaller tasks, like flash cards
and conversation portions of the CD-ROM. Instead of drawing only Native
people using the language, he pulled characters from a range of ages,
races and styles, including teens wearing baggy pants.

"I think it's important for a kid to be able to relate to it," Macheras
said.

But this isn't exactly a grandmother's form of storytelling. Or is it?

The elders aren't complaining.

"He's sort of like a visionary," said Patricia Wade, his mom. "He can
merge the ancient with the modern in such a way that it makes sense. I
would guess that everyone is very happy that these stories are not only
being preserved but in such a way that they can make a splash."

Kari Johns, Chickaloon Village's education director and Koht'aen
Kenaege' Project supervisor, added: "I've only heard positives. People
just love what they see."

REINSPIRED AT HOME

And Macheras loves his job.

"All I do here is listen to music and draw," he said of his Chickaloon
Village Traditional Council offices outside Palmer. He quickly amended
the statement with, "Well, that's not all I do."

Macheras was more than a little aimless two years ago. He was hopeful
when he graduated from Palmer High in 1999 and departed for The Art
Institute of Seattle. He didn't land a degree in his two years there
but did amass a hefty student loan bill that haunts him today.

He traded Seattle for Florida, but warm temperatures didn't change his
outlook. Florida's flat landscape left him creatively flat and longing
for the mountains and comforts of home. For the first time in his life,
he stopped drawing.

"That was a low point as far as my art goes," he said. "I didn't feel
inspired."

He returned home to Palmer and quickly found the job with the Chickaloon
Village, which he says, "fell right into place. It was a good
opportunity to be able to get a job drawing."

Suddenly, he had no trouble finding inspiration. His muse was his home,
his culture and his grandmother, who he calls "Gramm."

"She's the center of it all," he said. "It's all because of her."

That passion for family and tradition has fueled his drawing and his
production.

"The amount of work he's done, I can't even put a number on it,"
explained Johns. "From when he started two years ago to now, it's
amazing."

Macheras shrugs off the workload as no big deal. He draws like most
people walk or talk. He's a compulsive doodler who sketches people he
sees at cafes or in meetings. He has stacks of drawings at work and in
his briefcase, all from pencil or drafting pen on paper.

He's always been this way, says his mom. She remembers her Dimi
(pronounced dim-ee) drawing circles as a baby. Macheras said his early
work included recreating the characters he saw on cereal boxes.

"I have a great picture of him in diapers with a piece of paper in his
left hand and a pencil in his right hand," Wade said. "It was a nonstop
thing since he was very young. It's almost like he came in to draw."

SIGN OF SUCCESS

Macheras' perfect job is disappearing. His position is funded by a
language preservation grant from the Administration for Native
Americans. That grant runs out soon.

And that's fine with Macheras. He's been back in Alaska long enough to
itch for a larger urban area. Maybe he can land a job as an illustrator
or animator. The dream job is in comic books. Right now, he hopes he can
continue his work with Chickaloon Village on a contract basis, drawing
more of his grandmother's stories (he's already working on "The Magic
House").

But even if put the pencils down today, his art has already left a
permanent mark.

The Koht'aen Kenaege' Project is now officially part of the language
curriculum at the Ya Ne Dah Ah School. A handful of parents and locals
are also participating.

Children -- ages ranging from 2 to 14 -- are engaged, and in some cases,
progressing as quickly as the teachers. "They are right at our heels,"
Johns said. She said the kids are pulled in by the interactive aspects
of the material and Macheras' art. Macheras is proud; he was once a
student there, too.

"That's our success, when students come back, work for the tribe and
contribute so much," Johns said. "He's a tribal member, and we're lucky
to have such a bright young person especially interested in the
language."

Macheras said he and the project team -- Thomas Brannen, the programmer
and multimedia mastermind; Daniel Harrison, a language specialist; and
Johns, the director -- are just excited to have the material available
for mass consumption.

"We've been holed up here for two years," Macheras said, "and now we're
finally out there showing people what we've been doing."

Macheras and his mom are also bringing the stories -- complete with
PowerPoint presentation -- to forums and public schools. They hope the
schools will add the program to their cultural education curriculum.
Johns also hopes other oral languages from around the state will use
the project's format as a template to teach and preserve.

For now, the group is happy selling a few of the storybooks.

"(Money generated) will all go directly back to the school," Macheras
said, with pride.

Response has been good, so far, well, except for a few young public
school students frightened by scary owl scenes from "Besiin." Most are
eating it up. "They love the pictures, of course," Wade said. And
elders are pleased the language is chronicled.

"It's there forever; it won't get old 10 years down the road," Johns
said. "Once it's documented, it's a visual being. Not just oral. Once
we're all gone, it will still be around. It's key in preservation and
revitalization."

Macheras needs his own creative renewal, eager to relocate in the
Pacific Northwest. And he has plenty of motivation for that next step
following the success and fulfillment he's found in his recent work.

"The way I see it, it's been just more incentive to push myself with my
artwork," he said, before adding, "and to become successful through my
artwork to pay off those (student) loans."

Josh Niva can be reached at jniva at adn.com.

DIMI MACHERAS AND PATRICIA WADE will present stories "Besiin" and "The
Grizzly Bear" at noon and 2:30 p.m. March 26 at the Alaska Native
Heritage Center. Macheras will sign copies of the books afterward. For
more on the Ya Ne Dah Ah School and the Chickaloon Village Traditional
Council, visit www.chickaloon.org.