Native American youth finding self through digital story telling

Abstract

This holistic single-case study aimed to understand the impact of digital story telling (DST) on the identity expressions of Native American youth. The question that guided the study asks, ‘How do Native American adolescents in a rural, tribal-run after-school programme for Indigenous youth explore and express who they are through digital story telling?’ Five Indigenous youth enrolled in a tribal-run after-school programme participated in the study and completed a digital story telling project that contained multiple components and interviews. Data sources included funds of knowledge maps, shields, story scripts, storyboards, interview transcripts, and digital videos. Thematic analysis was the overarching method used to identify themes. The researchers also conducted constant comparison, content analysis, and/or intertextual transcription to analyse specific data types. Findings indicate the youth enjoyed the DST process, explored and solidified their personal identities, and discovered personal strength. The findings also suggest that DST enabled the youth to draw upon cultural knowledges, literacies, and personal experiences to establish their identities and make sense of the world around them. Furthermore, findings reveal the continued presence of racism in society and schools and the need to transform schools into sites that embrace and support Indigenous knowledges, languages, literacies, and identity development of Indigenous students.