Eve’s Fund sponsored a Digital Storytelling workshop at the Four Corners Regional Health Center in Red Mesa Arizona from March 16-18, 2010. Brenda K. Manuelito and Carmella Rodriguez of nDigiDreams guided ten young Navajos through this creative participatory media process. Digital Storytelling is “the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling.”
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Brenda Manuelito instructs an enthusiastic participant in
Eve’s Fund sponsored Digital Storytelling workshop
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Leaders in the field, Manuelito and Rodriquez have conducted many such workshops in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and trained hundreds of people ranging in ages from 9 to 83, but this was their first on Navajo Nation. Under their close direction, ten participants developed personal stories in their own voices.
The workshop began in a hogan, where each participant was encouraged to describe out loud an important experience. In the computer lab, they typed out rough drafts of their stories about one page in length. Using computers and aided continuously by their leaders, participants added still photos and video clips to strengthen the narratives. In the repetitive editorial process, the writers further improved their stories. Since they went home in the evenings, youngsters could bring into the lab photos or videos, either found or shot at home.
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| The hogan and surrounding mountains During the three days in the lab, participants and leaders worked hard in the intensive, exciting process of creating DVDs of their own stories. With coaching, the emerging digital storytellers polished and whittled their stories down to about three minutes, the optimal time for an effective story.
Finally, each participant screened their DVD story for everyone to see. Through digital storytelling, young Navajos gained voices and empowerment. For example, one young boy who mumbled his story idea in the hogan ended standing tall, speaking clearly about his own personal story. The young students took their DVDs home, all excited to show family and friends.
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The workshop was so successful that Eve’s Fund plans to repeat it yearly. In addition, peer-to-peer teaching of digital storytelling will be launched in the future.
