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.

I would also like to situate myself and acknowledge that I’m a multiracial transgender settler living on the unceded, ancestral and stolen homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples and that I have privilege, in that I have secure employment and have a fairly stable lifestyle most of the time. As noted, I am not an Indigenous academic and because of this, I’m open to collaboration if anyone wishes to build upon this paper.

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.

Contact: @candietanaka or candie@ualberta.ca

© 2021 Candie Tanaka