ATHENS, Ga.-The children's PBS program "Molly of Denali" has been awarded with a prestigious Peabody Award.
"Molly of Denali" was the first nationally distributed children's series to feature an Indigenous girl living in Alaska as the lead character and won the award in the children's and youth division. The series is a co-production with CBC Kids.
The show focuses on the cartoon character Molly Mabray, an Indigenous girl living in Alaska of Gwich'in, Koyukon, Dena'ina, and Athabascan heritage.
The program, which first aired in the summer of 2019, depicts the 10-year-old helping her parents run the Denali Trading Post while promoting Alaska Native values and literacy.
"Molly of Denali" is designed to help kids ages 4-8 develop knowledge and skills for interacting with informational texts through video content, interactive games, and real-world activities. Each episode includes two 11-minute stories as well as other content-including live-action segments featuring real children and regions in Alaska.
There were 60 nominees chosen this year for the Peabody Awards from nearly 1,300 entries spanning radio and podcasts, digital platforms and television.
The shows covered a broad range of issues from the criminal justice system, to the MeToo movement and immigrant rights.
"Stories are so important," said Dorothea Gillim, creator and producer. "They help us make meaning of who we are, of our experiences."
The stories children hear or watch "informs their sense of self and their outlook on others," Gillim said.
Indigenous children need to see themselves depicted onscreen as heroes, while non-Indigenous children should learn about cultures that have been stigmatized and marginalized over time, Gillim said.
The Peabody Awards, founded and based at the University of Georgia, are decided by a jury that includes industry professionals, media scholars, critics and journalists.
