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PROJECTS
First Voices is a social impact project producing video-based interpretations of Indigenous stories. Alongside the stories themselves, the project delivers a range of related assets, ranging from on-site workshops to educator resources (lesson plans) and supporting research videos.
On this page we present the process through which we create a First Voices project, and the deliverables relating to each phase.
FORT PECK
Initiated in late 2022, First Voices: Fort Peck is a partnership between Thresh and Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) in Poplar, Montana. The program also works closely with four high schools on the Fort Peck Reservation (Brockton, Poplar, Wolf Point and Frazer) as well as the Thundering Buffalo Wellness Center in Poplar.
Over the two-year duration of the project three digital stories will be produced with in partnership with the three principal tribes of the reservation: Nakóda (Assiniboine), Dakóta (Sioux) and Chippewa Cree.
The first story was delivered in late 2023. See below for details / deliverables relating to the project so far.
THE FIRST STORY: NAKÓDA (Assiniboine)
"THEY PERISHED AT THE ROCK POINT"
Our first story was narrated by Nakóda (Assiniboine) educator and language specialist Michael Turcotte. Michael chose to tell a story from colonial history—how smallpox was spread to the Nakóda population by European colonizers, but a wider epidemic was prevented by the choice of the infected tribal members to isolate themselves in a cave system, today called Rocky Point.
Many died, but they protected others in the community from suffering a similar fate. Michael selected the story as it raised important issues of resilience, generosity and community solidarity. The story has particular resonance because of recent experiences of loss experienced by the community as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Image of Rocky Point by created by First Voices participants
STEPS
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Step 1: Story narration by tribal knowledge-carrier
Our first step was to capture Michael's narration to camera. This gives us the foundation on which we build both workshops and supporting assets.
As you'll see below, Michael related the story in the Nakóda language. It is called "Bahá Ipá Owánija" ("They Perished at the Rock Point"). The video was filmed in the library of Fort Peck Community College.
From this narration we're able to generate both a transcript (writing out what's being said in Nakóda) and a translation into English. Using the "CC" button on the video, viewers can switch between these versions—a very useful tool for anyone seeking to get familiar with the Nakóda language!
For educators who want to use the story in the classroom, we provide different ways of accessing the story—either through video (as above) but also through an audio-only version as below:
The transcription (in Nakóda) is provided as a PDF, alongside a translation into English.
Click the icon above for a printable PDF of the transcript/translation.
The film shoot gave Michael the opportunity to share some of his additional reflections on the story, as below.
First Voices: Fort Peck team
Michael Turcotte
Knowledge-carrier/ Language Specialist
Cal Christian
Project Manager /
First Voices (FPCC)
Preeti Vasudevan
Artistic Director (Thresh) / Teaching artist
Scott Smoker
Graphic Artist / Documentary Film-maker
Thomas Christian
Elder / Tribal Liaison / Consultant
Chontay Standing Rock
Composer / Teaching artist
Linda Henson
Cultural & Educational Adviser (FPCC)
Mary Serbe
Education Lead / Teaching artist
Roxann Smith
Cultural Adviser / Native Studies instructor (FPCC)
LAME DEER
FIRST VOICES: LAME DEER (2020-2022)
First Voices was initiated as a response to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. With the loss of many Elders, the younger generation was experiencing a critical loss—of ancestral connection, of hope and empowerment through the power of storytelling between the generations.
Thresh's connection with Lame Deer began in 2017 when Founder & Artistic Director Preeti Vasudevan visited the school system as a storyteller-educator for Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad organization. While working with the students and elders of the community, she recognized fascinating parallels with her own South Asian (Indian) heritage: by tapping into the ancient wisdom of elders, the younger generation can connect to their heritage and find ways to apply this wisdom to their own lives in a contemporary context.
Lame Deer High School mentoring program
At Lame Deer High School, students were immersed in a year-long semester-based mentoring program. Workshops reconnected high-school students with Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Northern Cheyenne) culture by documenting and re-creating two ancestral stories, using contemporary online media production techniques. Students created an interpretation of the Great Race story as told and interpreted by their elders, working with professional artists (from both inside and outside their communities) to develop artwork, music, and choreography. The final product is a short performance video with behind the scenes footage.
The workshop process is both personal, as each student explores their individual voice, and also intensely collaborative in all aspects of storytelling including video and audio production.
Storytelling workshops with Lame Deer High School students (2021-2022)
Behind the Scenes
FUTURE PROJECTS
FIRST VOICES: APSÁALOOKE / CROW
First Voices is building partnerships with organizations and artists in the Apsáalooke (Crow) community. Henry Real Bird (cowboy poet and former Montana poet laureate) and First Voices are developing a story titled “Old Man Coyote”. Little Big Horn College is in conversation with First Voices about bringing the project to LBHC, their students, and nearby younger students and adults in the Crow Agency community.
Currently, our partners are working with First Voices to select all three Apsáalooke stories to be told, workshopped, and then created as digital stories.
We are particularly excited (and grateful) to benefit from the participation and guidance of Crow / Northern Cheyenne artist Ben Pease, who has been collaborating with First Voices since 2021, starting with our project at Lame Deer High School (Northern Cheyenne Reservation). Through his knowledge of First Voices and its goals, Ben has been instrumental in making connections for the project on the Crow Reservation as well as advising us on the selection of stories in preparation for project launch in later 2023.
Noted visual artist Ben Pease leads a First Voices workshop with the students of Lame Deer High School (spring 2022)
First Voices is a project from Thresh
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