States of America

Patricia Lei Murray is a passionate advocate for preserving and sharing the culture of Hawai'i, her native island home. She is a master quilter, threading a deep devotion to ancestry, tradition, and Ohana into her work. Driven by an abiding connection to the ocean, mountains, and skies, Patricia says that being Hawaiian is her pulse.

LaVona Evans was born in 1912 on the same day Arizona became a state. Naturally, she’s felt that her own identity has always been tied to her state. Between the parades and parties celebrating their joint centennial, LaVona shares what has kept her in her small rural community for a century.

Floyd Ashley is a retired educator who has spent his life dedicated to the Navajo people. During his years as an activist, teacher and community leader, Floyd has seen his share of struggles and dualities experienced by the Navajo Nation in the Land of Enchantment in New Mexico.

Chuck White and his family narrowly survived an EF5 tornado, escaping their house minutes before it, and his Oklahoma neighborhood, were leveled. Determined not to let any storm keep him from living where he wants to, Chuck rebuilt his home on the very same plot.

Daniel Shellabarger lives in a cave in the breathtaking canyons outside Utah's Arches National Park. A middle-aged former Peace Corps volunteer and social worker, Daniel disavowed the use of money in any form ten years ago and believes that wherever we are at any given moment is our home.

People come to Jackson, Wyoming for many different reasons: for Sven Taow, it was the promise of a high-paying summer job. He didn't find riches but Sven discovered a passion for the wilds of the American frontier and the Teton Mountains. Like many Jacksonites, he’s seeking a balance between paying the bills and pursuing the next peak.

Mexico-born Evaristo Mireles moved to Idaho decades ago as a teenager searching for a job. He has worked long hours with local farmers and raised his children in the state. Evaristo's desire to return to Mexico wanes as he comes to terms with how he's lived most of his life in the United States: between two cultures.

Mohinder Sangha moved to Northwest Washington in 1983, becoming the first Sikh person to start berry farming in the region. Since then Mohinder's farm has thrived, and with his service and leadership, he helped build a temple and planted seeds for a vibrant community of over one hundred Sikh berry farmers.

It was the past that brought Dave Varricchio to present-day Montana. Over the past 20 years, paleontology work in Big Sky Country’s wilderness has provided him with unique insight into the Montana of 75 million years ago. While focused mainly on changes in the Earth's crust over the course of millennia, Dave also observes more rapid changes in the evolution of this once sleepy college town.

Dereck Higgins has vivid memories of being harassed and attacked as a child. As an adult, he has managed the isolation and suspicion he is dealt by his near all-white surroundings in Nebraska through punk rock and electronic music. A lifetime of bucking expectations and cultivating a thriving musical community has brought Dereck to a place where he no longer seeks permission to belong.

Clay Greenland's desire to help others as a paramedic drove his life but his son's suicide prompted a retreat from Tennessee to a remote corner of the Nevada desert. Now Clay has gradually found a role in a trailer park community that helps him heal through a revived yet fragile sense of public service.

Though Hanna Sizemore grew up wandering the mountains of West Virginia, her passion for understanding a larger universe took her to Silicon Valley, NASA, and eventually back to her Appalachian roots in the National Radio Quiet Zone. Here she negotiates communication and a sense of belonging with beloved neighbors and friends that often come from opposing ideological tribes.