Indigenous representation in video games has a history of being problematic because Indigenous People had little control over the narrative. More recently though, Indigenous video games by Indigenous creators have emerged and provided an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to direct their own narratives using oral storytelling skills. Through comparative examples of Indigenous representation of early video games, to more recent games such as Never Alone, When Rivers Were Trails, and others,they are being used as tools of cultural expression and Indigenous sovereignty.
This website will provide online resources and information for public libraries interested in placing Indigenous video games into their collection as well as educational tools for Indigenous Peoples to get started in the creation of video games by detailing opportunities for education through the development of digital, decision making, coding, and design skills around storytelling.
WEBISTE: https://sites.google.com/view/indigenousvideogames/home
Candie Tanaka is a writer and artist with a BFA in Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. They are currently completing their MLIS at the University of Alberta and work at the Vancouver Public Library in Arts and Culture with the Programming and Learning Department. Their primary interest is in researching the ways that interdisciplinary collaboration can occur between digital humanities and library and information sciences using arts-based research methodologies. They want to build systems of knowledge in library and information sciences that draw upon arts and humanities to address the gaps in research and knowledge that they see as a multiracial transgender person.