A Native Lad: Benny Benson Tells Alaska's Story is based on
the script of a play by Sarah Hurst, first performed at Tatitlek
Community School in January 2010.
The story consists of 16 scenes marking major events in Alaska
history, narrated by Benny Benson, the designer of the Alaska
flag. Benny travels in time to meet a modern-day high school
student named Abigail, who is wondering where her PFD check
comes from. The scenes cover the Alaska Purchase through to the
statehood movement, the struggle for the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act and the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay.
This graphic novel, illustrated in a varied range of style by nine
superb Alaska artists, can be used in a classroom setting to teach
Alaska history to grades 7 through to college level, or it can
simply be read for enjoyment by children or adults. Forty pages
of supplemental notes further explain each scene and provide
questions for group discussion as well as sources of additional
reading to research topics in detail.
