Stories for Seven Generations

This project is currently in development. We are actively seeking funding and partnerships to bring this vision to life. All details presented are subject to change as the project evolves. We welcome any interest or inquiries regarding potential collaboration and support.

Stories for Seven Generations

A storytelling project documenting contemporary Indigenous voices across America

Honoring the native tradition of oral history, Stories for Seven Generations preserves and shares contemporary Indigenous voices across America. In collaboration with tribal colleges, we will create powerful audio-visual interviews that highlight the critical issues facing Native American communities today, serving as a catalyst for education, advocacy, and change.

Stories for Seven Generations will foster a nationwide discussion about these issues with the ultimate goal of achieving better health outcomes for Native Americans. The complete interviews will form an invaluable multimedia humanities archive that will be owned and managed by tribal colleges. This project strengthens the capacity of tribal colleges to use health information to reduce disparities and improve the health of their communities.

As part of the curriculum at tribal colleges, Stories for Seven Generations will expose students to valuable multimedia production skills.

Monthly production shoots with professionals and students

Short videos and podcasts are edited and distributed via social media

Complete interviews are added to the permanent archive

The Seventh Generation Principle

The Seventh Generation Principle is an Indigenous Concept, to think of the 7th generation coming after you in your words, work and actions, and to remember the seventh generation who came before you.

The seventh generation principle is based on an ancient philosophy of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois), which is recognized as the oldest democracy in the world and believed to be the model of the Unites States Constitution.

Sample Videos

National Indian Health Board

Digital Storytelling for Youth

Sherman Indian High School

Songs for Spirit Lake Exhibit at Cankdeska Cikana Community College

The Pitch: “StoryCorps meets the USC Shoah Foundation”

StoryCorps’ mission is “to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives, to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters.” At the same time, they “are creating an invaluable archive for future generations.” Their format centers on the story session, where regular people share their stories. 3-4 minute edited segments broadcast nationally on NPR.

Likewise, Stories for Seven Generations will record the stories of everyday Native Americans. The sessions will be directed and filmed by professionals and students as part of the tribal college curriculum. 3-4 minute edited segments will post via social media. Podcast episodes will be available on all major platforms.

In 1994, Steven Spielberg founded the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation to record testimonies in video format of survivors and other witnesses of the Shoah. In Five years, the project collected nearly 52,000 interviews in 56 countries in 32 languages. In 2005, Spielberg transferred the net assets and control to USC in return for the guarantee of the preservation of the archive in perpetuity and the accommodation to continue the Foundation’s mission. Today, the project encompasses video testimonies from witnesses to all genocide. The archive is managed by USC and is made available to researchers upon request.

Similarly, the Stories for Seven Generations archive will be housed and maintained by a consortium of tribal colleges. The archive will be made available to researchers upon request.

Sample Video and Podcast

Bookmobile Literacy
on the Wind River Indian Reservation

PODCAST

Native American health and wellness is a large, complex topic with many facets to explore through testimony. During the launch phase we will publish a defined framework for the discussion in order to provide focus for the interview sessions.

Some preliminary topics include:

Sample Video and Podcast

Hōkūleʻa & the Hawaiian Renaissance

Hōkūleʻa & the Hawaiian Renaissance
An interview with Nainoa Thompson

PODCAST

“Stories of Native People, by Native People” - The Production Format

While the Stories for Seven Generations start up team will include native and non-native professionals, ultimately the project must be owned and maintained by native communities by way of the tribal college system.

During the three-year startup phase a team of media professionals with deep experience in documenting public health issues in native communities will collaborate with tribal college faculty to plan and direct the production, editing and archiving of the material. This train-the-trainer approach will empower tribal college faculty to lead the project at the conclusion of the startup phase.

We envision Stories for Seven Generations will become an academic program at tribal colleges that will expose students to valuable multimedia production skills.

Monthly production shoot to gather stories
Student hosts will plan the shoots and conduct the interviews with guidance from faculty and professional filmmakers. Shoot locations will be all over the country. Each production shoot will last 4-5 days and gather enough material for a month’s worth of weekly broadcast stories.

Video and Podcast Distribution
Upon the completion of each production shoot, teams of professional and student editors will craft short, curated videos that tell a compelling story. A new video and accompanying podcast will be released each week, creating a regular distribution schedule that encourages repeat viewership. Public availability of video clips enables use of the material in blogs and academic sites, which in turn directs new viewers and participants to the project.

Archiving
After the audio-visual interviews are completed, each recording is then cataloged with detailed metadata, including information about the interviewees, topics discussed, and relevant context. The recordings are securely stored in a digital archive, making them accessible to educators, researchers, and community members, while maintaining the respect and authenticity of the stories shared.

Sample Videos

Urban Indian Digital Storytelling

Salt Songs & Healing

Healing Art

A Resource for Educators

In conjunction with the multimedia broadcast of the stories, the Seven Generations project team will publish interdisciplinary lesson plans designed for educators nationwide. We envision the publication of new lesson plans each semester during the three-year start up phase, and annual updates to these lesson plans for the duration of the project.

The budget includes funding for professional development for faculty at tribal colleges to use testimony in relevant and engaging ways – providing a student experience that transcends stereotypes and the limited perspective of mainstream textbooks. We envision that tribal college faculty will in turn host workshops for mainstream educators

The Production Team

JOHN HARRINGTON

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

John is a veteran producer of broadcast and interactive media, and a successful entrepreneur who has been recognized with numerous awards including two Emmys®. He is the president of Madisonfilm, Inc., a film and multimedia firm he founded in 1997.

John’s work has appeared on all major networks and his interactive media clients include the Smithsonian, NASA, PBS, the Department of Defense, Colonial Williamsburg, and the National Institutes of Health. From 2007 – 2014, John produced the Native Voices exhibition for the National Library of Medicine, which comprised over 200 interviews with Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native healers physicians and tribal leaders.

The Native Voices exhibition left a lasting impression on John. He is not of native ancestry, but the stories he encountered during the production process caused him to view many aspects of American life through a different lens. He committed to communicating stories of the unique health circumstances in Native communities to the American public with the intent to foster a nationwide dialogue. “Stories for Seven Generations” is the result of this commitment.

John built deep relationships with leaders in many native communities through his work on the Native Voices exhibition. Combined with his professional film and media background, he is uniquely positioned to launch this ambitious project.

PETER GWIN

AUTHOR, EDITOR, PODCAST HOST

Peter Gwin has been a writer and editor on the staff of National Geographic since 2003. He has written on a wide range of subjects, including pirates in the Malacca Straits, early tyrannosaurs, lost Timbuktu manuscripts, ship breakers in Bangladesh, and the security situation in Northern Africa.

Peter is cohost of the award-winning National Geographic podcast, Overheard.

In 2012, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club’s 2012 Whitman Bassow Award for best Environmental Reporting for his work on the rhino poaching crisis. He has received research grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Green Park Foundation in London for his work in Africa’s Sahara and Sahel regions.

In 2012 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to trace the history of aging kung fu masters in China’s Song Mountains.

GRIFF PARTINGTON

PRODUCER/EDITOR

Griff is a hard-working creative who has produced, directed and edited over a thousand videos for B2B and B2C marketing over the last 20 years. He is an experienced Producer, Camera Operator, licensed FAA Drone Pilot, Production Sound Mixer, and Editor.

From 2008 – 2014, Griff was a principle member of the Native Voices exhibition production and editorial team.

Griff has also worked on over 40 feature films for the Lifetime Movie Network as the post-production supervisor for these independent feature films.

He has produced media for such international brands as Microsoft, Honda, Discover, Walt Disney World® and Carnival Cruises. He has produced award winning productions for numerous government/transit agencies, including Amtrak, Orange County Transportation Authority, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, National Institutes of Health, and NJ TRANSIT.