Comics “a natural step then for me to be able to better portray myself”: Creating an awareness that Indigenous people should be involved – Anishinaabe people (USA)

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

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. […]

Video | Disaibon Hul – An Adivaani book on the 1855 Santal ‘Hul’ Rebellion – Jharkhand

Illustrated and bilingual resources suitable for urban and rural schools alike: A range of beautiful books published by Tulika & Tara

Tip | “Dancing on our turtle’s back”: A book on the concept of Indigenous knowledge and culture by Adivaani.org – Canada

When Rivers Were Trails Trailer from Elizabeth LaPensée on Vimeo.

For Indian publications use the present search window

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 | 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
• Constitution and Supreme Court | Democracy| Jawaharlal Nehru’s “five principles” for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals
• Customs | De- and re-tribalization | Globalization | Media portrayal | Misconceptions | Modernity | Particularly vulnerable tribal group
• 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
• Revival of traditions
• Storytelling | Success story
• United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples