Molly of Denali is an eight-episode podcast series from WGBH and PBS Kids that follows Alaska native Molly Mabray and her family living in a fictional Alaskan town of Qyah. It is a prequel to the animated kids series of the same name, “Molly of Denali.” It starts on July 15 and will air each week thereafter. "Molly of Denali" will be the first nationally distributed kids show in the United States to feature a Native American lead character. Show Executive Producer Dorothea Gillim spoke with WGBH Radio’s Mark Herz about the series. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Mark Herz: Before the TV show, there was the “Molly of Denali,” podcast which starts with this mystery to be solved — the disappearance of Molly's 10th birthday cake. Without us having to do a spoiler alert, tell us more about what happens in the TV series.
Dorothea Gillim: Well the TV series really follows Molly and her daily life and adventures in rural Alaska. She and her family live in a trading post, which is this hub of the community for tourists and trekkers and scientists and locals. And she and her friends have sort of daily adventures for what life is like when you're growing up in rural Alaska.
Herz: Both the podcast and the TV series are very much involved with Native Alaskan culture, as you say.
Here's an example from one episode of the podcast, and in it, Molly is talking with her grandfather before bed.
Molly: Grandpa, do you think a raven on the roof is connected to great raven?
Grandpa: They say Dotson'sa created people from clay and he could be a trickster, like our new friend up there.
Molly: So why is he here?
Grandpa: All animals have something to teach us. If we open our hearts and minds.
Gillim: That’s an example of an important Alaska Native value of listening and respecting all creatures, including animals. In every episode, we feature an Alaska Native value like that. Other values too are showing respect, sharing what you have, accepting what life brings, having patience. These are values that are really close to the heart of Alaska native culture, but are also really important for all kids to learn.
Herz: Not only do you have all these Native American values as part of this educational show, but the actors and people behind the scenes, even musicians, are Native Alaskans. Tell us about that and tell us why that's important, what it does for the show?
Gillim: We knew when we started off on the series that we needed to partner with Alaska Natives and to bring them into as many aspects of production as possible so that their voices are really informing what you see on screen. So we've got Alaska Native advisors, who've helped us develop the world and the characters. We've got Alaska Native writers, who are telling stories. We've got Alaska Native and First Nations voice-over actors, who are voicing all of the indigenous characters in the show. We've got Alaska Native producers, who are helping us, reviewing everything that goes out. We really wanted to move into a production model of true collaboration so that we're developing this hand-in-hand with Alaska Natives.
Herz: So in avoiding a kind of tokenism where there was only one or a very few people from the culture that your show is embedded in — what does that do for the show? What does that do for kids watching the show?
Gillim: Alaska Natives, and indigenous kids in general, have never seen themselves represented on screen. At least if they have, typically it's more likely to be sort of damaging stereotypes of Native Americans. Having Alaska Natives informing all aspects of production really ensures that what we're doing is right and what we're seeing and hearing is true and accurate and it doesn't reflect negative stereotypes or sort of romanticized ideas of what Alaska Native culture is.
Herz: So it's also important to break through stereotypes about Alaska and Native Alaskans. Tell us how it shows us how Alaska is now a modern Alaska?
Gillim: Well, Molly is a modern girl in a small village and she practices all of her sort of traditional customs, like singing songs and dancing the jig and beading — all of these are important parts of Athabascan culture, where Molly's from. But she also is a modern kid, so she has a laptop. Her family has a cell phone that she uses. She has a vlog.
We really wanted to debunk the stereotype of the vanished Native American and show that Alaska Natives are very much alive and that their culture is very rich and active and flourishing. And we hope that Alaska Native kids and indigenous kids everywhere will feel proud of who they are by seeing their culture represented positively onscreen.
