Welcome to “From Traditional Stories to Comic Books”

This page showcases the artwork of Utah Native American high school students who are transforming a traditional Sioux Trickster story into a comic-book format presentation. On November 26, 2013, about forty high school students from the Canyons, Granite, and Salt Lake school districts participated in a workshop with Sioux/Apache storyteller Dovie Thomason and Native American graphic book illustrator Dimi Macheras. Students listened to Ms. Thomason tell the story of “Iktome and the Buzzard,” and then they worked with illustrator Dimi Macheras to begin to draw the story as a small comic book. Workshop participants got off to an exciting start. There were many intriguing approaches to telling the story through images. This site shows continuing student work on the project. For students who want to revisit the story and think about Dimi’s suggestions, this site also provides a transcript of “Iktome and the Buzzard,” Dimi’s initial and later drawings of the story, and Dimi's ongoing commentary on student work.
The Utah Education Network (UEN) has a video of the November 26 workshop for students or teachers who missed it or want to review its content.
“From Traditional Stories to Comic Books” was a part of Utah’s 2013 Indigenous Day events. The workshop was sponsored by Center for Documentary Expression and Art; Utah Division of Indian Affairs; Utah Education Network; Canyons, Granite, and Salt Lake City School Districts; Utah State Office of Education; AITEC American Indian Teacher Education Collaboration, University of Utah; Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts; and Hill Air Force Base, Multicultural Programs.
Click here for the password-protected link to UEN’s eMedia for students and teachers. It contains a video of the workshop. You can request access from eMedia and/or school librarians or teachers.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Dimi Macheras, Bio

Dimi Macheras is a professional artist/illustrator who has worked on projects ranging from the Native American legend anthology Trickster to designing record sleeves for UK record label BROKE.

Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Macheras was close to his Grandmother, Chickaloon Village Elder Katherine Wade.  Wade shared the traditional Ahtna Athabascan teachings, which she learned from her grandparents.  She founded the Ya Ne Dah Ah School in 1992.  Macheras, along with a handful of his relatives were the first students to attend. They were taught Ahtna songs, language, and myths passed down from one generation to the next through storytelling. 

It was during this time that Macheras discovered comic books and became immersed in the artwork and characters that seemed to leap off the pages.

After graduating from high school and moving abroad, Macheras returned to Alaska in 2002 and went to work for Chickaloon Village under the Language Education Department.  During his time there, he helped develop artwork for the Ahtna Language Curriculum interactive CD roms. He also illustrated the Ya Ne Dah Ah stories his grandmother had told him.  This work received widespread recognition, and was noticed by Juneau based storyteller Ishmael Hope, with whom Macheras collaborated to illustrate the Tlingit legend, Strong Man, in comic book form.  The book spring-boarded the next comic book style project Trickster (Fulcrum Publishing, June 1, 2010), which collected native legends from all over the country and paired traditional storytellers with native illustrators.  The book was distributed globally, and nominated for an Eisner Award, the most prestigious comic book prize.

Recently, Macheras contributed to the Alaskan historical anthology A Native Lad, illustrated Salmon Story, which was written by his mother, Chickaloon Village Elder Patricia Wade, and illustrated another Athabascan legend for the Denali Exhibit at the Anchorage Museum.   He’s currently working on breaking into mainstream comics and has contributed a five-page backup story to the Eisner Award winning comic book, Prophet, published by Image Comics.  He also has taught young students in Alaskan classrooms the basics of graphic art and comic book storytelling.  He continues to pursue his passion and resides now in Seattle, Washington.
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