Juneau resident X̱’unei Lance Twitchell won an Emmy Saturday for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Series.
Twitchell won the award for writing ”Not a Mascot,” an episode for the PBS Kids show “Molly of Denali.”
The winning episode follows the show’s main character Molly Mabray as she learns that a competing basketball team – the Sitka War Chiefs – has a mascot based on Indigenous stereotypes. She then helps the team find a new mascot.
This is the second Emmy nomination for Twitchell and his first award. He shares it with head writer Raye Lankford.
Twitchell received the award at the ceremony in Los Angeles. Juneau residents welcomed him home at the airport Sunday night with traditional song and dance. Wearing a Chilkat robe, he thanked his supporters and said they can accomplish great things together.
“I am so thankful for this opportunity to stand on the backs of all the storytellers who brought us here, all the people who work on this wonderful show,” he said. “It takes so many hands to do something like this.”
Twitchell is also an author and a professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast.
“Molly of Denali” received a nomination for Outstanding Interactive Media this year as well. This is the show’s first Emmy award.
Listen to a Rainy Day Conversation interview with Twitchell talking about his Emmy nomination and other work with Juneau Afternoon host Bostin Christopher here.
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