Čá··hu – Is Anyone There: Video Games, Place-Based Knowledge, and the Future Imaginary

This thesis builds upon concepts of the ‘future imaginary’ as a methodology to consider how digital media can be designed to strengthen human relationships to place as exemplified in the research-creation development of an original Indigenous, Tuscarora video game. The process of developing the video game is examined to discuss how Tuscarora ways of knowing, as a Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, inform the game making process and adapt the future imaginary to strategize an accountable methodology to create game design that reflects Indigenous knowledge, practice, and place-based teachings. Based in Tuscarora territory, Niagara Falls, this game and thesis seeks to exemplify to other Indigenous nations an accountable strategy to developing Critical Play video games for Indigenous youth that engage them with intergenerational place-based knowledge that gives special attention to inaccessible traditional territories due to impacts of colonization and provides virtual portals to access these locations. This game and project present a future of wellness for all beings who inhabit Indigenous territories, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents alike. The game, Čá··hu, is based on Haudenosaunee teachings known as the Thanksgiving Address, which guide the gameplay. Indigenous concepts of humility paired with inspiration from Critical Play are combined to form a method of critical game development that centers Indigenous forms of thinking rather than common Western modes of gameplay and game mechanics