Molly of Denali
WGBH Educational Foundation, Atomic Cartoons
An alarming 20% of Americans believe Indigenous people no longer exist. And only 13% of state history standards across the U.S. cover information about Native Americans after the year 1900, while American media depicts Native characters almost entirely in historical settings. Molly of Denali, the charming story of Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native girl who helps her parents run the Denali Trading Post, represents the Indigenous traditions of Alaska Natives as a living cultural tradition which has much to offer us at the current moment, from environmental consciousness to community belonging and creative expression. Alaska Natives play central roles in all aspects of production. WGBH mentored six Alaska Native writers to produce scripts for season 1 and trained more than a dozen Indigenous children to play key voice-over roles or appear in live-action segments. The resulting series puts strong emphasis on cross-cultural communication, research and literacy skills, and environmental consciousness, but beyond that, the show has sparkling characters, compelling stories, and richly detailed settings. For helping to shift the ways that the next generation will think about Indigenous people and for giving native media-makers a central role in shaping their own representation, Molly of Denali deserves a Peabody.
PRIMARY PRODUCTION CREDITS
Creators: Dorothea Gillim, Kathy Waugh. Alaska Native Collaborators: Luke Titus, Adeline P. Raboff, Dewey Kk’ołeyo Hoffman, Rochelle Adams. Showrunner: Dorothea Gillim. Executive Producers: Dorothea Gillim, Carol Greenwald, Jennifer McCarron, Bill Shribman. Associate Producers/Producers: Princess Daazhraii Johnson, Kathy Waugh, Marcy Gunther, Mia Olufemi, Melissa Carlson, Elizabeth Walbridge, Anessa Roth, Heather Renney, Kassia O’Connor. Director: Uwe Rafael Braun. Writers: Douglass Wood, Peter Hirsch, Ann Austen, Glen Berger, Marcy Brown, Annie Evans, Peter Ferland, Leah Gotcsik, Dennis Haley, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, Raye Lankford, Tim McKeon, Katherine Sandford, McPaul Smith, Vera Starbard, Kathy Waugh, Keith Wagner, Mark Zaslove. Editor: Andrew Harron. Talent: Sovereign Bill, Sequoia Janvier, Lorne Cardinal, Jules Arita Koostachin, Ronald Dean Harris, Michelle Thrush, Ellen Kennedy, Vienna Leacock, Shawn Youngchief, Loc Roderique, Taran Kootenhayoo, Pawaken Koostachin-Chakasim, Adeleine Potts, Pamela Jones, Nyla Carpentier, Katrina Salisbury, Cynthia de Pando, Damon Sky Taylor, Rhona Rees, Hyuma Frankowski, Tai Grauman, Anna Dickey, Brendan Sunderland, Clay St. Thomas, Rebecca Shoichet, Laara Sadiq, Alex Stevens, Anu Davaasuren, David Lyle, Cathy Weseluck, Mary Black, Chloe Rode, Zane Jasper, Rukiya Bernard. Design & Technical Staff: Parinez Shajareh. Sound/Music: Eggplant Music & Sound, Koko Productions.