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OUR MISSION:
Digital Storytelling Creates Next-Level Opportunities for Indigenous Communities
WELCOME TO FIRST VOICES!
First Voices is a storytelling project that builds cultural connections—between generations, between Indigenous tribes and between Native and non-Native people.
Working with partner communities across North America, the project combines the arts and technology to create authentic interpretations of ancestral and historical Indigenous stories.
Watch our short video below to see First Voices in action, featuring comments from participants on the impact the project has had on them.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
The goal of First Voices is to improve personal, educational and professional outcomes for Indigenous people and the wider community.
A typical First Voices cohort consists of high school and college students, as well as members of the wider community (both Native and non-Native).
In this video you can see our current First Voices project in collaboration with Fort Peck Community College. It shows a glimpse of the various workshops that participants get involved with as they create a story.
Ultimately, our dream is for citizens of every background (Native and non-Native) to better understand and value the importance of the cultures and languages of the Indigenous nations within the state of Montana and across our great country.
The impact of First Voices is measured on three levels:
INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANTS
(immediate impact)
Young people and community members who participate in a First Voices project will:
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Strengthen social and emotional skills
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Develop leadership and teamwork capabilities
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Build knowledge in key 21st-century digital media and communication modalities
PARTNER COMMUNITIES
(medium-term impact)
In our partner communities, working with our educators, knowledge-keepers and volunteers First Voices aims to:
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Increase inter-generational contact within tribal communities
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Increase partnership among different tribal communities
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Increase partnership between Native and non-Native individuals both within and outside reservations
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Improve community health and wellness outcomes through raising awareness of nutrition issues and local food sourcing
THE WIDER SOCIETY
(long-term impact)
And looking at the wider society we aim to bring about a change in the cultural climate in Montana and across the USA.
We passionately believe that this can and will be achieved through:
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Increased exposure to authentic Indigenous history and contemporary culture through free and universal online access to First Voices stories and related content
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Use of First Voices free educator resources by high school and college educators across the country
First Voices is a project from Thresh
Copyright © 2024 Thresh Inc.