Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba developed an immersive Minecraft experience called Manito Ahbee Aki. Manito Ahbee Aki focuses on opportunities to learn about Anishinaabe Peoples through a combination of three learning experiences. First, students will be able to explore The Forks, which is a historic gathering place for the Anishinaabe people. Secondly, students will have the ability to learn about the Manitoba petroforms. Through in-game storytelling, the students will learn the history and stories behind the rock formations. Lastly, students partake in a buffalo hunt and learn about the importance of food sovereignty.
This experience highlights how technology can be incorporated with a relevant tool familiar to many students to teach local Indigenous history. A downfall of the tool is that it relies on the student to be passively engaged within the game walking through and interacting with the world. I believe that it would have been a powerful learning tool to see the students create an interactive world.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/anishinaabe-culture-school-minecraft-manitoba-1.5903746
Hi Curtis, thank you for sharing this resource! I really enjoyed the video overview of the immersive Minecraft experience through Manito Ahbee Aki. This multimedia format made me feel curious and excited to learn about the Anishinaabe Peoples. I agree that some interactive activities could make the experience even more engaging so hopefully that is an iterative opportunity in the near future! While the Indigenous history is often portrayed with tragedy and bias, I am glad to see that there are such artistic and fun initiatives to shine more of a positive light and insight on Indigenous culture. As such, I also want to share an additional resource that I encountered from another course where Indigenous ways of knowing and being were meaningfully incorporated into a video game.
Barnes, K. (2019). Agniq suaŋŋaktuq and kisima inŋitchuŋa (never alone). First Person Scholar. http://www.firstpersonscholar.com/agniq-suannaktuq-and-kisima-innitchuna-never-alone