<i>When Rivers Were Trails</i>: cultural expression in an indigenous video game

LaPensée, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/13527258.2020.1746919

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Although a game does not need to have a team that is entirely Indigenous in order to be sovereign, it is our hope that capacity building will continue to make a path for Indigenous developers. With more Indigenous people directly involved during development, alternatives become possible, such as in When Rivers Were Trails where unique design decisions were feasible due to the expansiveness of the team (LaPensée, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a player, you must make critical decisions based on what you can spare to share and act on, knowing the risks of what you offer along the way. You have autonomy in formulating your own journey with multiple possible endings that reveal how you lived out your life and how you are remembered, which is dependent on a hidden honor system that tracks how well you followed Indigenous values along the way (LaPensée, 2020).…”

Section: Expressing Sovereigntymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As described by Batchewana First Nation elder, scholar, and writer Carol Nadjiwon (1992), sovereignty means Indigenous communities sustaining rights to self-governance and self-expression. In the context of video games, sovereignty can be enacted in how games are developed, with consideration for who is involved and in what roles, how funding is gained and distributed, how intellectual property rights regarding Indigenous knowledge are managed, and how decisions are made regarding who can access a game and in what ways (LaPensée, 2018a(LaPensée, , 2020. Sovereignty further protects self-expression (Martinez, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Sovereign Games

LaPensée

Laiti²,

Longboat³

2021

Games and Culture

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Video games can be dynamic sovereign spaces for Indigenous representation and expression when the self-determination of Indigenous people is supported. Where games are concerned, self-determination involves the autonomy and right of Indigenous people to make key decisions regarding the process of how a game is developed as well as what that game entails. A game is sovereign when self-determination is a respected practice throughout all phases of development from conceptualization to distribution. In what ways can games be sovereign and what challenges may be faced? Utilizing comparative case studies of the self-determined games Lost Memories, Terra Nova, and When Rivers Were Trails, this research identifies possible approaches and challenges for sovereign games looking at development as well as the resulting designs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Expressing Sovereigntymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Sovereign Games

LaPensée

Laiti²,

Longboat³

2021

Games and Culture

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“…She has created many games that reflect her people's sovereignty of their own stories. Games like 'Thunderbird Strike' and 'When Rivers Were Trails' not only share heritage but also act as powerful tools to show the devastating effect of colonisation [5][6][7][8].…”

Section: Theoretical Underpinning 21 Two-eyed Seeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Nothing about us, without us”

Harbord

Hung

Falconer

2021

The 39th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

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This paper focuses on the experiences of built coalitions between the authors, students and the Indigenous peoples involved in a study of digital design. Ontario Tech University has been working with the Indigenous communities of the First Nations in Ontario, Canada. The report begins with a brief overview of the issues faced by the Indigenous communities in Canada. For example, retaining their traditional language, knowledge, and culture on their traditional lands. The paper then outlines the study's design and methods to understand how technology may help the Indigenous community address these issues. To do this, the authors set up a course project for 21 graduate students in Computer Science at Ontario Tech University in Winter 2021. The students were formed into nine groups. Each group was assigned the design and development an interactive design product prototype that would address some of the Indigenous community's social issues considering user experience and co-design from the outset. Lastly, the report shares the findings of the study and discusses the success of 'Nothing about us, without us' and how the prototypes may ameliorate the issues faced by the Indigenous peoples. The takeaway that we aim for is an understanding that no matter how honourable it may seem to create something on their behalf, it is essential to involve the primary culture/language speakers. We also intend to create a model for this mutual collaboration which then can be pursued to enable mutually respectful relationships. Following the old adage, "give a man an app, and he will use it for one day, teach a man to design an app and he will share it with the world. "

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“…Because When Rivers Were Trails launched in 2019, little research has been published as to whether the game increases student/player learning about Indigenous land history and US allotment policies enacted upon tribal nations. Published academic work focuses on the video game's development, which includes a sample lesson plan, reflecting on the story components of the game itself, and self-determined Indigenous cultural expression (LaPensée, 2021;LaPensée & Emmons, 2019a, 2019b. Toward that end, the purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of tribal college students who played When Rivers Were Trails in the hope that these experiences inform faculty in higher education about the potential usefulness in teaching When Rivers Were Trails in tribal college and university classrooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I see my ancestors”: exploring tribal college student experiences playingWhen Rivers Were Trails

Emmons¹,

LaPensée

2021

AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples

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The educational video game, When Rivers Were Trails, was launched in 2019. The purpose of the game is to teach players about Indigenous perspectives of history, US federal allotment policies affecting tribal nations, and some of the effects of these policies on Indigenous peoples. This article explores tribal college student experiences playing When Rivers Were Trails in hopes that it provides the basis for further research into how tribal college faculty may be able to teach the game within their own classrooms. Tribal colleges and universities were created by tribal nations to provide for the higher education needs of their citizens. Using phenomenological research methods, seven college students volunteered to participate in a brief study about their experiences playing the video game. Upon transcription and analysis of the interview data, three themes were developed that capture how these students define their experience with When Rivers Were Trails: feelings of representation, histories of land dispossession, and resilience of communities.

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When Rivers Were Trails: cultural expression in an indigenous video game

Cited by 13 publications

References 8 publications

Towards Sovereign Games

Towards Sovereign Games

“Nothing about us, without us”

“I see my ancestors”: exploring tribal college student experiences playingWhen Rivers Were Trails

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