It’s Time For Movie Monday!
Movie Monday: Cannon Beach
It’s time for Movie Monday!
This week we are featuring Cannon Beach by youth filmmakers Damianne Sheakley and Malena Ollaol. Their film centers on one of Yakutat’s most treasured places: Cannon Beach, a stretch of rare sandy coastline that carries cultural, environmental, and community significance.
Cannon Beach is a site layered with history. Once a migration route and still a gathering and harvesting place, it remains a landscape where community life continues and traditions are carried forward. Through the voices of Casey Meaps and Mary Knutsen, their film reflects on what makes Cannon Beach meaningful. It is a place for weddings, birthday parties, community celebrations, subsistence harvesting, surfing, riding four wheelers, and simply finding quiet. For many, time at the beach brings connection, grounding, and a sense of calm after the busyness of everyday life.
Cannon Beach was created as part of See Stories’ Power of Place workshop with Yakutat Middle School students. This program was supported by the National Park Service, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, and the Alaska State Council on the Arts Cultural Collaborations Grant.
🎥 Watch Cannon Beach here or click the still below:
Discussion Questions
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What places in your own community serve as gathering spaces in the way Cannon Beach does for Yakutat?
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How do natural places shape cultural identity and community connection?
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After hearing from Casey and Mary, what responsibilities do you think communities have to the places they value?
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