Making films and telling stories
Producer and director, Leya Hale, has dedicated her life to telling the stories of Indigenous Peoples.
By Taylor Hanson | reporter and editor
The studio felt dark and quiet, tinted by blue and purple lights, surrounded by black curtains. Two chairs with a microphone were set up in the room. Leya Hale was nervous. But why? Usually, Hale is the one asking questions behind the camera. She’s not used to being recorded and the sound of her own voice makes her uneasy. She took a sip of her tea, then physically shook out the nerves in her body by flailing her arms. She laughed, the kind of laugh that makes everyone else in the room laugh with her. This is what she knows. She only had to tell the story.
The interview was for an episode of Twin Cities PBS new Minnesota Experience Podcast Series to go along with Hale’s newest project, “The Electric Indian,” a history documentary following the life and career of Ojibwe hockey legend, Henry Boucha.
Born and raised in Southern California, Leya Hale grew up in a Los Angeles American Indian community not far from Hollywood. She comes from two tribes. On the maternal side of her family, she is Dakota and on the paternal side, she is Diné. She’s a producer and director for Twin Cities PBS. She spends her days finding stories about underrepresented groups around the Twin Cities. After 12 years at TPT, she continues to look for new stories to tell, following in her father’s footsteps.
At age 8, Hale remembers taking a VHS camcorder and turning up the sound of the television to the 1950 Disney movie Cinderella. Along with her sister and cousins, they would record reenacted scenes from the fairytale, creating costumes from their wardrobes and props from their home.
In the summer months throughout her childhood, Hale’s father would take her and her older sister to the movie theater. She loved watching movies because they allowed her to disappear. But she rarely saw her people depicted on the big screen. And on the rare occasion when she did, it was through the lens of non-native people.
Growing up, Hale’s father would tell her stories about their tribal group. Then she became a performer for her family dance group called the Eagle Spirit Dancers. It gave her a way to tell stories through a different type of medium. The group traveled to colleges, libraries and cultural festivals and shared their Native stories through song and dance.
“I think that was the birth of me falling in love with storytelling itself,” Hale said. “I wanted to figure out which medium I liked the best and I guess you could say that film was definitely something I was attracted to.”
Now, she goes to work every day in a studio where her storytelling can come to life. She walks through TPT’s offices and studios located in downtown St. Paul, MN. Past TV studio sets, cubicles, glass doors that look into conference rooms and people. Lots of people. It’s a place where Sesame Street characters are painted on the walls — a constant reminder that PBS is mainstream and her responsibility is to represent Native perspectives through the stories she tells.
In production, she wants to lift up voices of diverse stories — especially related to Indigenous peoples. Hale lives in West St. Paul where her community feels diverse but the TPT staff is predominantly white. This only encourages her to create more art. Which can be seen through her approach to filmmaking.
“She has this approach to filmmaking that has this indigeneity to it.” — Daniel Bergin, Twin Cities PBS producer.
Her days are filled with research, learning and exploring different topics to gain inspiration for films. Music is one of the main ways she finds inspiration. She creates a playlist of an artist she’s interested in, then listens to it over and over again until she is completely lost in the soundtrack. It helps her develop character arcs. She constantly asks the question, “What journey am I going to take viewers on?” Once she finds the story, she searches for the perfect people to tell the story.
Daniel Bergin is an executive producer at TPT. He’s been working alongside Hale for about 12 years — from her first documentary, “The Past is Alive within Us: The US-Dakota Conflict,” to her most recent project, “The Electric Indian.”
“She has this approach to filmmaking that has this indigeneity to it,” Bergin said. “The storytelling, the structure, the style, it really feels like it’s coming from, and with, and for the community.”
Bergin says that Hale’s good because she can create a safe space for her subjects. A space based on trust, where she invites people to share a story. And they know that in the end, she’s going to craft a narrative that is affirming and real and restorative.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to use my art as a vehicle for representation and to play a small part in the ongoing struggle for change.” — Leya Hale, Twin Cities PBS Director and Producer
“I am grateful for the opportunity to use my art as a vehicle for representation and to play a small part in the ongoing struggle for change,” Hale said.
Her stories bring injustices to light, ranging from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s epidemic, to introducing Native legends and heroes to a new generation of audiences. Hale hopes that her films raise awareness and foster conversations that bring about change while honoring the voices of her community.
The main problem Hale and Bergin face is figuring out what stories to tell. But Bergin trusts Hale’s instincts and he knows that she’ll tell the right stories in their own time. She will tell stories for her family, for the Indigenous community, for the ones that are changing the world and ultimately for the little girl that never saw herself depicted on the big screen.
As she sits at the podcast mic and answers the questions about “The Electric Indian” her nerves start to fade away. She smiles to herself as she scrolls through her notes. This is what she knows. She only has to tell the story.
Leya Hale films
- “Coming to Mni Sota”
- “Bound by Earth: Archaeology in Minnesota”
- “The Past is Alive With Us: the US-Dakota Conflict”
- “Reclaiming Sacred Tobacco”
- “The People’s Protectors”
- “Bring her Home”
- “The Electric Indian”
Taylor Hanson, an organizational communications major with a journalism minor, is a sophomore at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her passion for journalism has led her to report for Bethel’s student news and report on stories in India. She is the Editor in Chief of Bethel’s student news source, The Clarion. When she’s not writing, she enjoys being outside, drinking coffee, watching basketball and spending time with the people she loves.
This story was part of a partnership between Bethel University’s journalism program and ICT editors Kevin Abourezk, Dianna Hunt and Dalton Walker.
