New ways of telling (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Published: 05.31.2006

New ways of telling
O'odham students recount tales, culture via modern media
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/dailystar/131474

"Looking Forward, Looking Back"
Digital stories explore Tohono O'odham youths' culture.
To get to the stories, visit www.bridgesweb.org, click on "communities"
and then "San Xavier, USA."

The memories of Stephanie Danforth's early life on the Tohono O'odham
reservation are as sharp as the stars she admired from her village on
clear desert nights.

"There are no lights to mess up the sky's beauty," Danforth, 15, recalls
of those days in a digital story that explores her childhood in Indian
country. "I could hear the swaying of the trees in the night, but
during the day I could smell the food cooking, like chili, beans and
Indian tacos."

Danforth's story, which also looks at her later years in the city, is
one of 11 that Tohono O'odham high school students created recently
through the "Looking Forward, Looking Back" project in San Xavier.

The students' work is the first from the Tucson area to be showcased on
the Bridges to Understanding Web site, which connects indigenous youth
from around the world through digital storytelling. The San Xavier
Education Department spearheaded the project involving students from
Sunnyside High School and Desert View High School. Most of them live in
San Xavier, just southwest of Tucson.

The students' short stories delve into family and culture, both on and
off the reservation. After learning how to write a script and tell a
story through images, the youngsters came up with creative ways to
describe how they maintain ties to centuries-old cultural traditions in
modern times.

The story of Davied Johnson, 15, focuses on traditional foods. He talks
about how, when he was younger, his grandmother's cooking sparked his
interest in such foods as tepary beans and cactus fruits. He has wanted
to be a chef since then, the teen says.

"Someday I'm going to make these foods for my restaurant so everybody
can taste the glories of O'odham food," he narrates in his story.
Ashley Escalante, 14, probed the O'odham language and discovered that
many youths do not speak it.

"If we lose our language, we stop being who we are," she says in her
story, adding that it is up to young people to help preserve the
O'odham tongue by learning it.

"I'm going against the current by trying to make our language stronger,"
she narrates. "I wonder if someday my parents will ask me to teach
them."
Danforth, Escalante and Johnson said putting together their stories
after school was hard work, but that in the end they were happy with
what they accomplished. The trio and their fellow storytellers had
their first public showing at Sunnyside High School a few days ago. Now
they are taking their stories to elders and others throughout the
reservation.

"It makes me feel proud," Johnson said.

The idea was for students to look at their community and their
connection to their heritage, said Ronald Felix, administrative
assistant for the San Xavier Education Department. "They showed a lot
of commitment to the program," he added.

The seven-month project was years in the making with support from
various organizations, Felix said.

It finally came to fruition when the San Xavier District Council set
aside funding for it, which was complemented with grants and private
money. In all, Felix said the department received about $80,000 for
cameras, recording equipment, computer software, student stipends and
salaries for two instructors. The cost also includes a planned art
sculpture that will represent the students' stories, Felix said.

The art piece, which will be done between June and September, will
become a fixture in the San Xavier Plaza, said Felix, who assisted
instructors Josh Schachter and Kimi Eisele whenever they needed a hand.
Schachter ran the photography component, while Eisele helped students
with writing and interviewing techniques.

"A lot of it was learning about their own identity, learning about their
heritage, and learning to live in two worlds," Schachter said of the
students' work.

As for him, the freelance photographer said: "Just learning to build
trust in a community as an outsider was an important lesson for me."

"Looking Forward, Looking Back"
Digital stories explore Tohono O'odham youths' culture.

To get to the stories, visit www.bridgesweb.org, click on "communities"
and then "San Xavier, USA."

Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano at azstarnet.com.

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