'Molly of Denali' goes to Shiprock — Find out when you can catch the episode

Since its premiere in July 2019, the PBS Kids animated series “Molly of Denali” has brought Indigenous stories to the screen — specifically the stories of Indigenous people of Alaska.

The series has picked up an Emmy Award for its storytelling along the way.

It follows Molly Shahnyaa Mabray, an Alaska Native girl from the fictional village of Qyah, and her family, friends Tooey Ookami and Trini Mumford, her malamute Suki along with other residents.

The series is created by Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh for PBS Kids and CBC Kids.

“Molly of Denali” teaches children literacy skills through informational texts and communication.

A five-episode miniseries “Molly’s Epic Adventures” takes Molly out of Alaska and into other Indigenous areas across the United States. Episodes will air at 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, through Friday, Nov. 7.

In “Molly’s Epic Adventures,” Molly and her beloved Grandpa Nat leave Alaska to visit the Lenape Tribe in New Jersey, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho, the Klamath Tribe in Oregon, the Diné Tribe in New Mexico, and the Native Hawaiian People in their traditional homelands.

The episode “Feeling Sheepish/Chasing the Wind” brings Molly and her family to Shiprock to learn about the area’s history. The episode will air at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, on PBS Kids, channel 5.2. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

Yatibaey Evans (Ahtna, Athabascan from Mentasta, Alaska), series creative producer, says putting together the miniseries took time because they wanted to get everything right.

Evans says because Grandpa Nat is a volcanologist, it made sense for the series to head to the areas around the United States that have volcanoes.

“It was important for us to reach out to the different tribes and get permission to tell these stories,” Evans says. “Each tribe has their own protocols and we worked with and collaborated together. Being an Alaska Native, I understood that it was going to take some time to get these done. It’s been an incredible journey to get these done and showcase other Indigenous cultures.”

Gillim says in “Feeling Sheepish/Chasing the Wind,” Molly arrives in Shiprock, and is excited to gift beaver mittens to her new friend, Kevin. But, when she is hit with the desert heat, she worries they may not be a good gift.

Meanwhile, Grandpa Nat’s new drone gets swept away by a dust devil when showing Molly an ancient volcano in Shiprock. Determined to recover the lost drone, Molly and Grandpa Nat must use clues within the pictures it snapped before it crashed.

Gillim, Evans and team worked with tribal liaisons on the episodes.

For the Shiprock episode, the team worked with Ronalda Tome-Warito, a member of the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education.

Evans says the story of Shiprock and Diné history was one they wanted to tell.

“She shared that story with the writer and you’ll see that the episode has a different animation style,” Evans says. “The styles are different with each episode because we want to pay homage to each region. Working with Ronalda and getting every detail correct was important. All the way down to the Diné people and the hair placement and how they hold the blankets. There were many conversations in order to make it accurate.”

Evans hopes the series will continue to shine a light on Indigenous people.

“If we work together and build relationships across cultures, it will help sustain our livelihoods,” she says.

Gillim echoes the sentiment.

“I would hope that kids become curious about the native people where they are located and they start asking questions,” she says.

“Just as Molly does.”

'Molly of Denali' visit Shiprock as she explores Indigenous America in PBS miniseries