Contemporary Indigenous Authorship: Indigenous Futurisms

"Raven Tales is series of half-hour, (24min.) CGI-animated television programs, targeted at school-age children and their families that introduce Aboriginal folklore in a humorous and entertaining way.

"They tell the stories of the many adventures of Raven, the most powerful deity of Aboriginal mythology. Each episode features an original interpretation of a popular tale from the folklore of our first peoples."

"He Ao Hou is a point-and-click adventure game. The gameplay is based on kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) stories and knowledge, and focuses in particular on the uses of the native kukui nut, itself a symbol of knowledge. It is set in the far future, when kānaka maoli have attained the next level of navigation: space travel. While your grandfather, a great navigator, is on his deathbed, your sister goes missing. Entrusted with your grandfather’s space canoe, you set out to find her, along the way meeting interesting individuals and learning about their relationships to their planets. On the water (Wai) planet you learn that you can use the kukui to clarify water that is cloudy, thus finding a helpful shark. On the lava (Pele) planet, you learn how hula dancing is used to make kukui plants grow. On the plant (Ahupua’a) planet, you use the kukui as a projectile, hitting the boar-like, eight-eyed demi-god, Kamapua’a, to wake him up. Finally, you unlock enough knowledge to find your sister—but she is now much more than she ever was before."

"Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) is the first game developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat, an Alaska Native people. Nearly 40 Alaska Native elders, storytellers and community members contributed to the development of the game. Play as a young Iñupiat girl and an arctic fox as they set out to find the source of the eternal blizzard which threatens the survival of everything they have ever known."

"Observe famous historical events and interact with the people who made them happen! Ideal for students, architects, artists, and anyone else who wants to experience history as it really was!"

"When Rivers Were Trails is an educational 2D adventure game which follows an Anishinaabeg in the 1890’s who is displaced from Fond du Lac in Minnesota to California due to the impact of allotment acts on Indigenous communities. Developed in collaboration with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation and Michigan State University’s Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab thanks to support from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians."

"From the age of 18 she has been a professional artist compleatly devoted to her art. Exhibiting her work at the Heard indian market in Phoenix Az, and at the Santa Fe Indian Art Market in Santa Fe NM. She has garnered a total of five Best in Show awards. Two from the Heard, and three from the Santa Fe Indian Market. One of only two artists to achieve this distinction.

"Since that time her work has been shown in Germany, Australia, France and many art institutions and museums throughout the United States. Including the Metropoitan Museum of Art in New York City.

"Okuma has work in the permanent collections of The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum and the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian."

"Osage Indian fine artist who is skilled in draping, tailoring, beadwork, jewelry, silk-screen printing, ribbon work, body and textile painting, contemporary and tradition design and symbolism with works in permanent museum collections and current exhibitions. Retired fine arts instructor. Pendleton blanket designer. Theatre costume designer. Fashion designer. "

"Decontie & Brown is a jewelry and fashion studio that caters to the collector who appreciates the luxurious experience of inspired creations. We are honored to present beautiful and trendsetting designs rooted in the time honored traditions of handcrafted elegance.

"Jason Brown and Donna Decontie-Brown are the driving force behind Decontie & Brown and have been creating for the past 20 years. This husband and wife team draws inspiration from their Penobscot tribal heritage and their experience in the luxury jewelry industry to create beautiful trendsetting designs with a Native American influence."

"Angela DeMontigny is an internationally-renowned, Indigenous Canadian designer. Her custom made and ready-to-wear, all leather clothing collections, bold accessories and statement jewelry collections have been sold in specialty boutiques and galleries throughout North America and Europe since 1995."

"The art of Preston Singletary has become synonymous with the relationship between European glass blowing traditions and Northwest Native art. His artworks feature themes of transformation, animal spirits and shamanism through elegant blown glass forms and mystical sand carved Tlingit designs."

"Artist Wendy Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures, both historically and in contemporary society. Raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, Red Star’s work is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. An avid researcher of archives and historical narratives, Red Star seeks to incorporate and recast her research, offering new and unexpected perspectives in work that is at once inquisitive, witty and unsettling. Intergenerational collaborative work is integral to her practice, along with creating a forum for the expression of Native women’s voices in contemporary art."

My origins are not supernatural, nor have they been enhanced by radioactive spiders. I am simply a Native American artist and writer whose creative mantra in best summed up with a word from my tribe's own language as: "taʔčaʔx̣ʷéʔtəŋ", which means "get into trouble".