Elizabeth LaPensée didn’t see Indigenous people portrayed accurately in comics, so she wrote her own
When she was a little girl playing video games and reading comics, Elizabeth LaPensée didn’t see herself reflected. So, she resolved to change that. LaPensée, who is Anishinaabe and Métis, is a professor in the department of media and information at Michigan State University. She makes video games, comics and edits anthologies to promote the work of other Indigenous creators. | Read the full story and listen to a podcast on CBC radio (Canada) >>
Indigenous representing Indigenous
Her love of comics also threads through her video games. Her latest project is called, When Rivers Were Trails, and is in 2D artwork that requires players to interact with a map to make their way through the game. The characters, all from various nations, were written by 24 Indigenous writers.
When Rivers Were Trails is an educational adventure game that follows an Anishinaabeg in the 1890s who is displaced from Fond du Lac in Minnesota to California due to the impact of allotment acts on Indigenous communities. (Elizabeth LaPensée, art by Weshoyot Alvitre)
“It has been really important to have Indigenous writers who are from those nations representing themselves through this game.”
LaPensée said as more Indigenous people create comics and games, more commercial level companies are reaching out to find Indigenous consultants.
“At the very least we are building more capacity and more awareness that [Indigenous] people should be involved, preferably from the beginning of the project,” she said.
But LaPensée ultimately wants to see Indigenous people as the lead artists, designers, writers, and contributors that are paid equally. […]
When Rivers Were Trails Trailer from Elizabeth LaPensée on Vimeo.
For Indian publications use the present search window
Search tips: if you miss a Custom Search window or media contents on this page (1) switch from “Reader” to regular viewing; (2) set your browser’s Security settings to “Enable JavaScript”; (3) if still missing, check Google support for browsers and devices. | More tips >>
Example: type “tribal picture stories” to obtain the following results (screenshot for the purpose of illustration only):
For a list of publishers included in the above custom search, click here >>
Related posts
- Accountability | Adverse inclusion | Assimilation | Land rights | Rural poverty
- Boarding school | Education | Residential school | Tribal elders
- Colonial policies | History | Hul (Santal rebellion 1855-1856) | Tribal history covered in “India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha
- Community facilities | Government of India | Networking | Organizations
- Continents, countries & regions: Africa | America & National Museum of the American Indian | Australia | Canada | Japan | New Zealand | Scandinavia | Tribal culture worldwide
- Customs | De- and re-tribalization | Globalization | Media portrayal | Misconceptions | Modernity | Particularly vulnerable tribal group
- Democracy| Constitution and Supreme Court | Jawaharlal Nehru’s “five principles” for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals
- Eco tourism | Nature and wildlife | Tourism
- Environmental history and what makes for a civilization – Romila Thapar
- Forest Rights Act (FRA) | Vanavasi
- Forest dwellers in early India – myths and ecology in historical perspective
- Hyderabad biodiversity pledge
- People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)
- Revival of traditions
- Storytelling | Success story | Videovolunteers
- United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Towards “a life free from want and fear” for every ethnic group – United Nations
- “Who are Scheduled Tribes?”: Clarifications by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes – Government of India