�Ӱ�ԭ��S Professor X̱’unei Lance Twitchell Wins Emmy Award

March 21, 2025

Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Series at the 2025 Children’s & Family Emmy® Awards on March 15 in Los Angeles.

Dr. Twitchell and series head writer, Raye Lankford, were recognized for writing the episode “Not a Mascot” for the animated PBS Kids program Molly of Denali. The program is the first nationally distributed children’s show in the United States to feature a lead character who is Alaska Native.

Dr. Twitchell attended the award ceremony and accepted the award on behalf of the show. In his acceptance speech, Twitchell remarked, "Aatlein gunalchéesh (many thanks) to GBH, PBS, Atomic Cartoons, to Raye Lankford for all of your work, for Dorothea Gillam for having this dream, for the entire team of Molly of Denali, which includes elders and culture bearers, Indigenous language speakers, who made this their vision. To all you writers out there, all you Native writers, all you Native babies, who might be wondering: can I tell my stories through film and television ... Mahsi'choo, letʼs go!”

X’unei Lance Twitchell, PhD, is a Professor of Alaska Native Languages, one pathway offered through . A more comprehensive biography can be found .

Two individuals posing at the 3rd Children’s & Family Emmys, with LEGO and other sponsors’ logos in the background. One person is wearing a vibrant robe with building-like patterns and the other is in a yellow floral dress with a black shawl.
Dr. Twitchell, wearing the Yáay Naaxein (Whale Chilkat Blanket), which was woven by Shaxʼsaani Kéekʼ Jenny Thlunaut, which is at.óow of the Lukaax̱.ádi, and a salmon/trout head copper Bolo called Abundance, Renewal, and Hope made by Jennifer Younger, attended the ceremony with his wife, Miriah Twitchell, who wore a Sea Otter cape by Christy Ruby Designs, and copper butterfly earrings and copper bracelets by Jennifer Younger, celebrated Alaska Native culture and artists on the red carpet. (Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.)

X̱’unei Lance Twitchell and Raye Lankford accepting the award at the 3rd Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards which took place at Television City in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.)