Project Beginnings: Interviewing Our Elders
In 2008 Dakota Wicohan commenced work on a project to interview community elders on topics such as past experiences, Dakota language use, and traditions. The video-recorded interviews were conceived as part of a Minnesota Historical Society-supported oral history project intended to preserve the words and wisdom of Dakota community elders. Over the years over a dozen individuals were interviewed; in addition to elders, interviewees included Dakota Wicohan staff and Dakota language speakers.
Over the next three years interviews were collected and intermittently shared with the immediate community. In the summer of 2011 Dakota Wicohan organized the interview footage as a first step towards editing the footage into a comprehensive documentary.
Over the next three years interviews were collected and intermittently shared with the immediate community. In the summer of 2011 Dakota Wicohan organized the interview footage as a first step towards editing the footage into a comprehensive documentary.
In May 2012, Simon Goldenberg, a former intern, and Bill Weiss, an experienced videographer and editor who had filmed most of the interviews, were brought on to begin work on the oral history project as project coordinator and editor, respectively. They worked with the Dakota Wicohan staff and board over the next nine months to create a final video project. The project footage included over 25 hours of interview material and additional footage of organizational events, meetings, and teachings.
The project was officially completed in March 2013 as an hour-long documentary. After sharing the documentary with the elders who took part in the project, Dakota Wicohan is now ready to share it with the larger Dakota community and the state of Minnesota.
The project was officially completed in March 2013 as an hour-long documentary. After sharing the documentary with the elders who took part in the project, Dakota Wicohan is now ready to share it with the larger Dakota community and the state of Minnesota.
Critical Themes in the Documentary
The documentary covers a wide breadth of topics that will educate, mediate, and excite a diverse audience. These themes include:
- Memories from youth
- Boarding school
- The US-Dakota War of 1862
- Dakota language education
- Reclaiming Dakota tradition and language
- The fortitude of community members in the 20th century