Sarah Hurst

A Native Lad Sarah Hurst

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.