#anishinaabe devs

[indiegamesofcolor]

[I.D.: A gifset containing five gifs of the educational Minecraft game Manito Ahbee Aki: The place where the Creator sits.

Gif 1 shows three panning environmental shots. One shot shows bison in the forest. Another shot sweeps over an aerial view of a teepee community in the forest. Another shot shows a large field of wheat.

Gif 2 shows a first person view of the player hunting in a forest with a bow and arrow.

Gif 3 has two scenes. One scene shows the player paddling in a canoe through a river. The next scene switches to a first person view from the canoe as the player approaches the shore where three teepees stand.

Gif 4 shows a line of bison running through a grassy field together.

Gif 5 shows the player talking to the NPC Grandmother Chickadee. A text box with her dialogue appears, saying “Semaa (Tobacco) is a connection to our creator and ancestors. Semaa allows us to communicate with our ancestors to ask for guidance. Semaa is a gift of reciprocity. We give semaa to recieve knowledge and healing. Prior to recieving knowloedge and/or healing from a Knowledge Keeper you must offer semma.”

end I.D.]

Manito Ahbee Aki: The place where the Creator sits is an Indigenous teaching resource built in the world of Minecraft! Travel back in time to Manito Ahbee, a site located in Manitoba’s western Whiteshell area, and experience Anishinaabe culture, community, teachings, and their way of life before European contact. Explore three distinct lessons to understand the Anishinaabe Worldview by learning from Knowledge Keepers!

For free on Windows, Windows, Chromebook, and the iPAD through Minecraft: Education Edition.

Developed by the Louis Riel School Division’s Indigenous Education Team which included their Indigenous Council of Grandmothers and Grandfathers (ICGG). The ICGG works with students and teachers to share Indigenous knowledge across classrooms. 

[indiegamesofcolor]

[ID: A gifset containing four gifs about the narrative game Where the Water Tastes Like Wine.

Gif 1 shows an animation of a traveller sitting on a train car watching the passing scenery. It transitions into the traveller walking in a field. 

Gif 2 shows a stranger in a straw hat sitting by a fire at night. A menu displays an inventory where the items are illustrated as tarot cards.

Gif 3 shows a text snippet from a story: “The hotel is an old manor house that’s seen better days, a grand structure surmounted by a gambrel roof that dwarfs the house itself. It’s eerily still, but for two boys at play; each one so small and light they barely leave tracks in the deep snow.” An illustration of two boys along with the two selectable options saying “Make your way inside” or “Watch them” accompany the story. 

Gif 4 shows a skeleton carrying a stick with a bindle tied to it as it walks across a map of the United States

end ID.]

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a narrative adventure game about traveling, sharing stories, and surviving manifest destiny. Set in the Depression era of the United Staes, come across folkloric stories from the strangers you meet. Encounter strange and unsettling things, see where folk tales bleed into life, and unlock the most powerful type of stories in people!

For Nintendo Switch, Windows, Linux, Mac, Xbox One, and PS4.

Developed by Dim Bulb Games and Serenity Forge. Its writing team features a diverse set of creators such as Black creators Austin Walker and Gita Jackson; non-binary Nádleehí Diné artist Demian Dinéyazhi'; São Paulo-based writer Bruno Dias; and Anishinaabe writer Elizabeth LaPensée.

[indiegamesofcolor]

When Rivers were Trails is an educational 2D point and click adventure game about about the affects of colonization of the 1890s. In this narrative-driven game, follow displaced Anishinaabeg characters and learn about the impact of allotment acts on Indigenous communities. 

For free on Windows and Mac.

Developed in partnership with Michigan State University’s Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Creative directing by Elizabeth LaPensée, a prominent figure in the Indigenous game developer community (and whose other works are featured on this blog).

[indiegamesofcolor]

[I.D.: A gifset containing four gifs of the simulation game Venture Arctic.

Gif 1 shows a catalogue cycling through various arctic wildlife. Character models of an Atlantic puffin, a caribou, and a musk ox are shown.

Gif 2 shows a top down view of the game’s environment. The are snow covered mountains and a grassy ground being thawed by the player dragging a sun around. The season is summer.

Gif 3 shows the same ecosystem, this time being affected by snowflakes being dragged around and spreading snow. The season is winter.

Gif 4 shows the same ecosystem during winter. The player pans over a body of water.

end I.D.]

Venture Arctic is an interactive nature documentary where you play as Mother Nature! Control the forces of the earth, sun, wind, and water and collect a spirit from each animal that passes on. Feed Arctic cod, explore the social structure of Arctic wolves, and learn how an ecosystem’s survival depends on life and death!

For Mac and Windows.

Developed by Pocketwatch Games with writing by Anishinaabe game dev Elizabeth LaPensée. She was inducted into the Global Women in Games Hall of Fame in 2020, and has worked on other titles such as Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Invaders, and Thunderbird Strike. 

[indiegamesofcolor]

Thunderbird Strike is a 2D side scroller where you play as a thunderbird protecting the environment of Turtle Island. Utilize searing lightning against the invading oil industry, and revive dead wildlife in this game about protest and environmental protection!

For Windows, Android, and iOS

Developed by Elizabeth LaPensée, who is of Anishinaabe and Métis descent. As a community organizer, LaPensée’s games partner with other Indigenous developers to contribute to Indigenous Futurisms in games.