Welcome to Small Humans,atikah suhaine lucah an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2019 and we have the entire internet to contend with.
My five-year-old daughter began humming a traditional Alaska Native song, telling me “it’s so catchy! Do we have any Mohawk songs like this?”
The reason she’d even heard a traditional Alaska Native song was through a new PBS animated children’s show, Molly of Denali. It is the first American children’s show featuring an Alaska Native character as its protagonist, and this upbeat show features characters of many generations, traditional Native American knowledge, and a tech-savvy protagonist.
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My husband introduced the show to our kids as a show starring their mom and uncle – he was referring to the show’s 10-year-old protagonist Molly and her friend Tooey, who certainly looked more like me and my brother than any show we watched growing up – and while I had no takers to join me in watching at the outset, before the first episode wrapped, my daughter and my three-year-old son appeared on the couch beside me.
This would’ve been an unconceivable concept for me as a child: That one day my own children would see characters on screen who are also Native American, like their mom (it also wouldn’t have occurred to me in the ‘80s that said show would’ve included vlogs, internet searches, and cell phones). It’s still positively groundbreaking for 2019 children’s entertainment. According to the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media’s newly released report, in 2018 children’s television featured predominately white protagonists. Of the 26.1 percent of lead or co-lead characters who are people of color, only 0.8% are Native American.
Conceived by television producers Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh, the duo originally wanted to do a children’s show on a family in rural Alaska, with the point-of-view of a native kid.
Molly of Denalicenters around the inquisitive, tech-using Molly, her friends Tooey and Trini, Molly’s parents, her grandfather and various elder relatives, who all live in the fictional Alaskan village of Qyah. Molly’s family runs the Denali trading post.
Gratitude for the land and animals is woven organically into many episodes
“We quickly realized, of course, that we couldn’t tell that story on our own, we needed to partner with Alaska Natives on the production,” Gillim says over the phone. “We're really thrilled that we have an opportunity to represent a group that has been either not represented or misrepresented in the media, and it's just about time.”
The show’s creative director is Princess Daazhraii Johnson - she’s Neets’aii Gwich’in - and she says that it was their intention to create a show with modern Alaska Native people.
“We stayed away from the really strong stereotypes – we’re all Eskimos, we live in igloos – and we wanted to show that we’re thriving modern people,” says Johnson from her home in Fairbanks, Alaska. “Our kids are just like any other kids, capable of navigating the technology.”
The series is framed around Molly’s vlog, where she informs her viewers on topics ranging from gaining her Native name to how to make mosquito repellent from plants. In between 11-minute episodes, a live action short features real kids and adults from Alaska participating in some of the activities mentioned in the previous episode – meeting owls and learning traditional dances. Adults will recognize these kinds of interludes from shows like Sesame Streetor Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
Gillim says the vlog shows that Molly is comfortable with technology, but it’s also part of her nature, to share information. As for those live-action segments, she says the goal is to show kids that there are real kids living in Alaska, many of whom are Alaska Native, with their own cultures and traditions that are very much alive.
SEE ALSO: The 15 best family-friendly movies now streaming on NetflixJohnson says the episodes highlight and share our Indigenous knowledge, and Alaska Native values. “Before we get a formal education, our traditional values really set the foundation for learning,” she says. “To be honest, those are the values like the world needs right now, how we really create a strong community that looks out for one another, that also is very respectful of the land and animals.” Gratitude for the land and animals is woven organically into many episodes, like when Molly’s father thanks the river before the kids enter a canoe race, or when Molly thanks the berries after she harvests them.
Seeing Native American values infused so naturally into the show is a breath of fresh air to Indigenous parents and children, myself included. But beyond that, it also provides a great opportunity for non-Native audiences to become acquainted with the concepts. Johnson says that a friend of hers, who is African-American, was asked by his five-year-old son to explain ancestors.
“We were raised with this Indigenous lens, and I feel like I knew what ancestors were inherently growing up, like my mom, [would] just say nonchalantly that our ancestors are with us, and to get that feedback, and know that we're getting our values out there - that deep reverence and respect for life, for not just human life, but the man, the animals, the water - is such a beautiful thing in a time of so much uncertainty,” says Johnson. “we have a great responsibility to our children who are watching us.”
You can watch Molly of Denali on PBS or CBC (in Canada). Volumes 1-3 are available for streaming through the PBS Kids video app, the PBS subscription channel on Amazon Prime, or CBC Gem in Canada.
UPDATE: Oct. 23, 2019, 10:56 a.m. EDT This story was updated to include more streaming app options.
Topics Small Humans