WGBH Boston developed Molly of Denali with a working group of Alaska Native advisors, including Elders, who advise on many aspects of the show, including culture and languages.
Below are profiles of the cast members & advisors who lent their voice talents to the show:
Sovereign Bill (voice of Molly Mabray)
Sovereign Bill has been at the mic since she could stand on her own two feet.
Bill grew up accompanying her parents, Willard Bill, Jr. (Muckleshoot) and Robin Pratt (Tlingit), participating in events and performing traditional Muckleshoot and Tlingit dances and songs at tribal and community events — and as part of the Auburn School District’s Native American song and dance group. Continue reading »
Lorne Cardinal (voice of Grandpa Nat)
As the stage lights came up, all the audience could see was a pair of legs sticking out from behind a stove. The legs wiggled and the audience laughed.
From that moment, Lorne Cardinal was hooked.
“I got bit by the bug,” said Cardinal about his first acting role as the stove repairman in a college production of William Robertson Davies’ one-act play, The Voice of the People. “I was standing on stage feeling totally comfortable. That’s when I knew that acting was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.” Continue reading »
The first time that Adeline Juneby Potts auditioned for a part in her high school play, she didn’t get the part. It wouldn’t be until February 2018, more than 50 years later, that Potts would try out for another part. This time, she finally landed the role she was born to play.
“I still can’t believe I got the part,” said Potts. “I am overjoyed. I’m very happy that for the first time there is a TV series that respectfully portrays Indigenous people.” Continue reading »
Princess Daazhraii Johnson – Creative Producer
Growing up, Princess Daazhraii Johnson loved watching movies, but longed to see someone who looked like her on screen. Johnson was born in Israel and raised mostly in Interior Alaska. Her background is diverse – her mother’s family is Neets’aii Gwich’in and her late father was Romanian and Lithuanian. As a result of growing up fairly transient in Alaska, never attending one school for more than two years, she faced a lot of adversity. This, and the discrimination she faced as a child, fueled her desire to see a more just and equitable world. Continue reading »
Rochelle Adams – Molly of Denali working group member
Rochelle Adams grew up fully immersed in her Alaska Native culture in the villages of Fort Yukon and Beaver. She currently lives seasonally between the village of Beaver and the city of Anchorage with her three children Amaya, Koso and Khan. It is a balance of living the best of both worlds. Now she is sharing the beauty of her culture and language with children across the United States and Canada through her work on the new PBS KIDS series, MOLLY OF DENALI. Continue reading »
Dewey Hoffman – Molly of Denali working group member
Dewey Hoffman’s grandmother gave him two gifts, his Denaakk’e name and a passion for sharing Alaska Native languages with others.
Named Kk’ołeyo, after his great-grandfather, Hoffman’s name means “long distance walker.” It’s a name that Hoffman, who is Koyukon Athabaskan, strives to live up to. Throughout Alaska, he is known for going the distance and has collaborated across learning communities and advocacy groups to help Alaska Native languages thrive. Continue reading »
