Motif: Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous Knowledge refers to culture-specific knowledge systems developed by indigenous communities, encompassing practices, beliefs, and wisdom about the environment and society. It is often debated in relation to scientific knowledge and has significant cultural and political implications, particularly in the contexts of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization.
Philip, Kavita S. “Indigenous Knowledge: Science and Technology Studies.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed., 779-783. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.85012-6.

Indigenous Knowledge refers to culture-specific knowledge systems developed by indigenous communities, encompassing practices, beliefs, and wisdom about the environment and society. It is often debated in relation to scientific knowledge and has significant cultural and political implications, particularly in the contexts of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization.
Philip, Kavita S. “Indigenous Knowledge: Science and Technology Studies.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed., 779-783. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.85012-6.

Spirit Island

Spirit Island is widely recognized not just as a well designed cooperative strategy game but as a deliberate counter-narrative to the neo-colonial exploration and exploitation gameplay inherent in classic games like Catan. By shifting the player’s perspective from the colonizing “pioneer” to the island itself, the game presents human-nature relations in an unusual and inspiring

Blue Planet (TTRPG series)

Originally published in 1997 by Biohazard Games and recently revived with Blue Planet: Recontact, Blue Planet is widely considered a pioneering and successful example of ‘hard’ eco-science fiction in the tabletop RPG space. The game is set in 2199 on Poseidon, an alien waterworld that humanity has fled to following a devastating, 70-year ecological collapse

Machine Dreams: Rainforest

Refik Anadol’s Machine Dreams: Rainforest, the headlining debut exhibition at Anadol’s Los Angeles museum Dataland, is a highly ambitious attempt at using AI and immersive projection techniques in the service of sustainability and climate communication. The exhibit aims to prove to skeptics that machine learning can offer something radically different from generic ‘slop’ by dedicating

Mulaka

Developed by the Mexican studio Lienzo, Mulaka is a 3D action-adventure game that focuses on Indigenous storytelling. Set in a poly-poly rendition of the landscapes of northern Mexico, the game draws from the mythology, culture, and worldview of the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) people. While players might approach it as a Zelda-inspired action game, Mulaka uses mechanics,

Ōkami

Ōkami is one of those games that stays with you long after you have played it. You take on the role of Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf, and alongside your tiny, loudmouthed companion Issun (who, by the way, gets far too excited whenever he sees a woman), you

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The game is part of the Avatar franchise, and was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on December 7, 2023.

Never Alone

Never Alone, or Kisima Inŋitchuŋa, is a game developed in collaboration with native people of Alaska, called the Iñupiat. The game is about a young Iñupiat girl and a fox trying to find the source of a devastating blizzard that is threatening their world.

When Rivers Were Trails

When Rivers Were Trails is a 2D point-and-click adventure game in which Oregon Trail meets Where the Water Tastes Like Wine. An Anishinaabeg in the 1890’s is displaced from their traditional territory in Minnesota and heads west to California due to the impact of allotment acts on Indigenous communities, facing Indian Agents, meeting people from different nations, and hunting,

Tiwanaku

In Tiwanaku, players lead their tribe into unknown territory in search of new lands to cultivate, trying to explore regions and draw outlines to develop cultures according to the customs and legacies of Pachamama. They must honor the deity by respecting the principles of diversity and complementarity and seek harmony rather than conflict with nature.

Skábma: Snowfall

From WIRED magazine: Skábma: Snowfall “tells the story of a Sámi reindeer herder reconnecting with the ancient ways of his people. […] At the start of Skábma: Snowfall, Áilu lives a blessed life. Under the watchful eye of his adoptive uncle, he tends to a herd of reindeer in a remote Arctic village, dreaming of

Honeyland

The last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood. This film which is filmed in Macedonia is an exploration of an observational Indigenous visual narrative that deeply impacts our behavior towards natural resources and

Sleepless / Repeat Until Death

A Mongolian miner takes his sick daughter away from the heavily polluted city to see the shaman. Upon finding a new home with the reindeer herders in the forest, he learns that this world too, is changing. To convey the message of global warming, the music video incorporates the image and tale of the native

Environmentalism and the “Ecological Indian” in Avatar: A Visual Analysis