The Wrap: Indigenous stories in the video game industry
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The year is 2262. The world is on the verge of freedom from the forces of colonial oppression. As the colonizers leave the planet, earth has been left to the people who could not afford to leave.
The world that is left behind shows the return of the natural world, intertwined with human made elements and technology. Plants have begun to push up between the cracks on the street and vines creep along the side of some of the buildings. Though most of the world is colored in shades of black and gray, neon signs decorate the city with words written in Cree.
This is the landscape of “Hill Agency: Purity/Decay,” released to the public on March 31 by Achimostawinan Games, an Indigenous-owned game studio.
In the game, players take on the role of Meygeen Hill, a Néhinaw (Cree) private investigator working in one of the last major cities left in North America. Starting with a not so simple case of a misplaced ElectroDog 2.0, Meygeen’s true mission begins with the arrival of Mary Patentia from the Risen City, where the “elite citizens” live. Patentia presents Meygeen with a case about murdered sisters after receiving no help from the police. And that’s just the beginning of this Indigenous cyber noir detective game. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News and ICT. READ MORE
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BENGALURU, India — It was a celebratory atmosphere for officials gathered just hours away from several of India's major tiger reserves in the southern city of Mysuru, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Sunday to much applause that the country's tiger population has steadily grown to over 3,000 since its flagship conservation program began 50 years ago after concerns that numbers of the big cats were dwindling.
“India is a country where protecting nature is part of our culture,” Modi proclaimed. “This is why we have many unique achievements in wildlife conservation.”
Modi also launched the International Big Cats Alliance that he said will focus on the protection and conservation of seven big cat species, namely, the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah.
Protesters, meanwhile, are telling their own stories Sunday of how they have been displaced by wildlife conservation projects over the last half-century, with dozens demonstrating about an hour away from the announcement — Associated Press. READ MORE
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Indigenous peoples around the globe agree that their health and the health of the planet are interdependent and in jeopardy. On day two of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, this fact — that Indigenous people make up 5 percent of the world’s population but are responsible for 80 percent of its biodiversity — was repeated again and again by global Indigenous leaders.
“As we are all aware, Indigenous peoples have least contributed to the problems of climate change nonetheless, due to their interdependence with their vital environment in their ecosystems, they suffer at its worst effects,” said Francisco Cali Tzay on Tuesday, a Mayan Cakchiquel from Guatemala and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The Special Rapporteur keeps tabs on Indigenous peoples globally and reports back to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights on best practices.
This year’s theme: human health, planetary and territorial health, and climate change gave attendees an opportunity to talk about the shortcomings of governments and non-Indigenous leaders. Others called upon the Permanent Forum to take action. — High Country News. READ MORE
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On the morning of July 27, 2022, a small coalition of Shipibo fishers and local farmers living inside a protected area in the Peruvian Amazon steered their boats across a still and glittering lake. They were bound for the town of Junín Pablo, where the regional government had installed a guard post several years prior as a base from which to monitor the area. Upon arrival, they set up camp along the shore beside the offices, with signs reading “No more corruption” and “Don’t fine us for defending our rights.” Over the course of a week, hundreds of people joined from the surrounding towns to peacefully demand the exit of the park administration.
“It was the only way to get anyone to listen,” said Jeremías Cruz Nunta, a member of the Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous community and head of the Indigenous and Peasant Defense Front for Imiría and Cauya Lakes, a committee formed to protect the local waters. Since the toma, or the taking of the post, nine months ago, the group has monitored the entrance to the lagoon with a rotating shift of guards to restrict the entry of government officials. “We had to do something drastic to get people to pay attention.”
For years, the Shipibo have protested the protected area, submitting formal complaints to ask that the supreme decree used to establish it be annulled and that the land be given over to the communities to manage. Despite their claims that the park was established illegally, in violation of their territorial rights, the administration had carried on its operations. — Grist. READ MORE
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- Native Caucus seeks better refereeing: ‘Why are we being left out?’
- Back to the future? Sharp cuts proposed for Indian Health Service: Republican proposal calls for spending cuts across all federal agencies. The sequestration of unspent COVID-19 funds could exceed several billion dollars
- USDA announces first-ever grants for Indigenous meat processing: Grant program will now include bison, reindeer, moose, elk and salmon
- Cowlitz Tribe opens cannabis dispensary
- Ken Burns on ‘The American Buffalo’ and Indigenous histories
- Native Youth Olympics underway
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