The Culture of Media: Representation from Nanook to Molly

On view May 03 — Oct 13, 2019

An exhibition on the museum’s fourth floor provides context for the PBS Kids series Molly of Denali, the first nationally distributed children’s TV series in the U.S. featuring an Alaska Native lead character – 10-year-old Molly who lives in the fictional village of Oyah, Alaska. The Culture of Media: Representation from Nanook to Molly presents brief historical overview of how Indigenous people have been represented in media throughout the 20th century, including introducing audiences to Athabascan cultures and the production process behind Molly.

Learn More

Follow the TV series on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and read about its development here.

Find out about the Molly of Denali podcast in this story by Fast Company and listen to episodes here.

Learn more about the history and culture of the Athabascan people from the book Dena'inaq' Huch'ulyeshi: The Dena'ina Way of Living available in the Museum Store.

Discover more about the first people of Alaska by visiting the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and the exhibition Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska and watch a video about the exhibition.

Explore Athabascan cultural objects in the museum’s collection.

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