Harvesting elders' stories

Two groups of college students who worked together over the summer to document the life stories of Navajo elders wound up learning a lot more than how to use a video camera.

They also got experience building trust, building sidewalks and building bridges between cultures.

Tom Grier, a journalism professor at Winona State University in Winona, Minn., first had the idea for the Navajo Oral History Project about five years ago. He was looking for a hands-on experience for his students that would compete with some of the compelling travel-study programs for which the university is known.

While some profs were taking their students to Cairo or London, Grier thought he could give his students a cross-cultural experience without leaving the U.S. He picked the Navajo Nation almost at random.

"I just have always had an enduring interest in the culture of the southwest United States," Grier told an audience of Native journalists at the annual convention of the Native American Journalists Association here July 21 to 24.

Being a journalist, one of the first people Grier contacted about his idea was Tom Arviso Jr., CEO/publisher of the Navajo Times. Arviso referred him to Diné College, where Grier was initially met by a wall of polite indifference.

"At first I tried phone calls and e-mail, and no one ever got back to me," Grier said. "Finally, I took a trip out there and started knocking on doors. Several administrators said, 'Good idea. Good luck with that.'"

Finally Grier ran into Miranda Haskie, a professor of social and behavioral science, who said, "Great idea. How can I help?"

Grier knew he had found his ally.

After waiting a year for approval from the Navajo Nation Internal Research Board, the two professors fleshed out the project. A group of students from Winona State would travel to Tsaile, Ariz., for three weeks, where they would be paired with Diné College students and divided into teams to identify three Navajo elders with interesting stories.

They were tasked with creating one long (one hour), two short (seven to 15 minutes) and one very short (five minutes) video story on each elder.

In the two years the project has been in existence, students have interviewed Dr. Beulah Allen, believed to be the first female Navajo doctor; long-time educators Wilson Aronilth Jr. and Ruth Roessel; code talker Samuel Tso; retired anthropology professor Harry Walters; and Chinle youth activist Marjorie "Grandma" Thomas.

In exchange for participating in the videos, each elder got to direct the youths in a service project around his or her home.

"They raked manure, they dug up trees, they built a sidewalk out of stones," Grier said. "They worked them pretty hard."

As Grier predicted, it was a good cross-cultural experience for his students. But it was equally so for the Navajos, many of whom had rarely left the reservation and were not used to dealing with, as Grier put it, "somewhat privileged, irritating white students from Minnesota."

"They got mad at each other a few times," he said. "I said, 'Good, I'm glad you're having disagreements and learning how to work it out.'"

The students interviewed each elder at least three times, then combined clips of interview footage with historical photographs and sweeping images of landscapes to tell their stories.

The results were visually stunning, very watchable pieces the students were proud to show to their subjects.

"The elders came and brought their children and grandchildren" to view the videos, Grier said. "Every once in a while a child would blurt out, 'Hey, that's Grandpa up there!'"

The finished documentaries were turned over to the Navajo Nation Museum and the Diné College archive. The full-length productions can be purchased for $20 each. All the proceeds go into a scholarship fund for the program.

Receptions for the creators were held in both Winona and Tsaile, with Grier finding grant money to transport the Diné College students who couldn't afford a plane ticket to Minnesota.

Grier hopes Diné College will gradually absorb the program, though he hopes his students will always be welcome. The first year, it was offered as a concurrent class at both Winona and Diné College. This year it was a Diné College class with assistance from Winona.

"The underlying goal is to help Diné College establish a journalism program of its own," he said.

Information: www.winona360.org (type "Navajo elders" in the "search" box).

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