Margaret “Skye” Litten ’12

Hometown: Evanston, Illinois

Being adopted by a world-traveling anthropologist and filmmaker has greatly informed Margaret “Skye” Litten’s notions of family.

Litten began accompanying her mother on excursions at the age of 3, when she traveled to New Zealand and was again “adopted”–informally–as a grandchild by the Maori family that served as their hosts. She also developed a close relationship with an Italian family during a yearlong stay there.

“I have friends in Italy who are like siblings to me, and I really have a nana and a papa who are the chiefs of a Maori tribe,” she said. “It doesn't matter who you are or where you are, as long as you love them and they love you, you are family.”

Litten also traveled to Hawaii, Spain, Costa Rica, England, Scotland, Mexico, France, and Austria, helping her mother document cultural observations and film oral histories. She has scouted for locations, props, and costumes during preproduction, served as a grip assistant, written voice-over dialogue, and helped edit; she has even acted in a leading role in one film. Litten, who plans to study history, now has a documentary of her own in progress.