Overview:
Skins began from the desire of Native new media artists Jason Lewis and Skawennati Tricia Fragnito who wanted to use their skills in computers and design to help their people in some way. They were disappointed in the way their people were ,and still are, being portrayed in mainstream media so they came up with an idea to create a program that combines their talents to teach youths to present their culture in a new way. Fragnito and Lewis had founded AbTeC (Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace) in 2004 as a platform to define and share conceptual and practical tools to allow Native content creators to forge new, Aboriginally-determined territories within the web-pages, online games, and virtual environments. Skins is a project born from this seed that is aimed at making Native youth the producers not just consumers of content in cyberspace. It is a unique project that was created in partnership with Montreal based Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), run out of the Obx Labs at Concordia University (It once was run at Kahnawake Survival School in years past) that blends the past, present and future and opens new worlds to Native youth. More specifically this project is bringing together elders and youth with experts in new media in order to bring the stories of their heritage to a new stage, that of video games. To date, Skins has gone through 4 iterations, Skin 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 and created 4 games; Otsi:! | Rise of the Kanien’kehá:ka Legends, The Adventures of Skahiòn:hati: Legend of Stone Giant, Skahiòn:hati: Rise of the Kanien'kehá:ka Legends and Ienién:te and the Peacemaker’s Wampum. The first iteration of Skins began as a pilot program in 2008-2009 as a year long senior level course at Kahnawake Survival School in the Mohawk First Nation in Quebec, Canada. The project has changed in its format since then; going from a variety of immersion programs to what is was most recently, a 3 week long fully immersive 15 day program.
Mission/Purpose:
The primary goal of the Skins program is very clear, to give Native youth a stronger bond to their culture and its stories through the medium of video games. The workshop combines instruction of video game design alongside immersion into Aboriginal stories and storytelling techniques. The youths are introduced to the oral history of their people by their elders and also to how important these stories are to their culture and what they mean to their people. In addition to the importance of storytelling, Skins teaches students important skills needed for game design including: art direction, 3D modeling and animation, level design, game mechanics, sound and basic core computer programmings. The technical portion of the workshop is taught by game-industry professionals, Aboriginal artists and a group of Concordia University students majoring in Computation Arts. In addition to this core group of instructors Aboriginal elders are encouraged to lend their expertise as cultural consultants, advising the youths on the proper use of language, the source stories and the design of the virtual artifacts and environs. This partnership with their elders not only fosters a cultural exchange but also builds a bond with their past and a bridge to their future. Proof that has had impact can be seen in the fact that one of the original Skins 1.0 participants Tehoniehtathe Delisle is still involved in the program and mentoring a new generation of game designers.
This Video Will Introduce the Interaction Between Mentors and Participants in the Skins Project
How the Stories are Chosen
The Adventures of Skahiòn:hati: Legend of Stone Giant - Skins 2.0, 2011
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This video walks you through the process of choosing a story for the games they decide to make. You will see that this process allows the students to take control of the game they are creating and become the driving force behind the project. It is this inclusive atmosphere that fosters the absorption and acceptance of these oral traditions by these youth. They feel connected to their heritage but also feel a connection to something new.
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Skins 1.0 - Otsì:! Rise of the Kanien’kehá:ka
The Adventures of Skahiòn:hati: Legend of Stone Giant
In this game we meet Skahion:hati, a boastful young man who lives in a traditional Iroquois village that comes under threat by the legendary Stone Giant who is killing all the fish in the river. The young boy must come to understand himself before he has a chance to defeat such a powerful and legendary foe.
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Skahiòn:hati: Rise of the Kanien'kehá:ka Legends
Participants of the previous Skins workshops returned to combine and enhance their projects. The result was four-level game in which we meet Skahiòn:hati as a brash youth, itching to get out of his village. He is sent on a mission to fight the fearsome Stone Giant. Later, as a seasoned hunter, he must overcome the zombie-like Tree People before he can use the information from an elder’s story to beat the terrifying Flying Head.
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Ienién:te and the Peacemaker’s Wampum
The fourth game in the Skins project follows our heroine, Ienién:te (yeh-YAWN-day), home from University with her brand new Archeology degree, as she is visited in a dream by a bear spirit. The spirit tells her of evil wrongdoings nearby--which only she can set right. Using a combination of the school smarts she brings home from University and the traditional knowledge that she learns from her grandmother in the game, Ienién:te avoids security guards’ flashlights and solves increasingly difficult puzzles to reach an ancient sacred and powerful artifact--the Peacemaker’s original wampum. The wampum was stolen by her evil archaeology professor, who is using their power to fuel his own immortality. Only by rediscovering her culture and returning the artifacts can she foil the corporate aspirations of world domination and protect the worlds from the powerful ancient evils they had carelessly unleashed.
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