Willie Hensley is a well-known Alaska Native leader, but a documentary that premiered this week in Anchorage gives you a chance to get to know what makes him tick.
Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has this preview.
Willie Hensley has worn a lot of hats, and you can see a lot of them in this film that filled with snapshots of his life, as well as something else, says the film’s producer Marla Williams.
“That was really fun in this film to look at how many different hairstyles Willie has had throughout life. He’s gone from a flattop and a nerdy little side part, to long sixties sideburns and now to a ponytail all the way down his back.”
The film showcases Hensley’s charisma and traditional Inupiaq humor. It’s called “Homeland“ and chronicles his rise as a champion for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and eventually a statewide leader.
“I think he’s a man of his times. He’s always current. He’s always looking forward, but he’s not stuck in his past. He uses his past to keep him moving forward.”
The documentary is filled with moments that explores Hensley’s talent for walking between two worlds – that of Native culture and the modern world of business and politics.
It traces his roots to a sod house near Kotzebue, Alaska.
In the film, Hensley takes his daughter Priscilla to show her where he was raised as a small boy.
Only a few pieces of wood and mounds of sod remain.
“Not a table, not a chair, not a bed. This was home. It kept us warm on the coldest of days.”
The film also takes you to a religious boarding school in Tennessee where Hensley arrived as a teenager with only a shopping bag full of belongings.
His classmates didn’t know what to make of him and the care packages of whale meat and other subsistence foods he received, but were happy to have him on their football team, because he was one of the fastest on the field.
“In those days, if you’re a young Iñupiaq that age, if you survive TB and chicken pox, and influenza and everything else that everybody caught, you’re pretty damned tough.”
The documentary’s next showing will be in Kotzebue on April 17 and will be available on online in the future.
It’s the tenth installment of the Magnetic North: The Alaska Character series, which has profiled political figures like Governor Bill Sheffield and Native leaders like Jacob Adams and carver Nathan Jackson.
The series was made possible by the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Rasmuson Foundation.
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