Indigenous Gaming
The session will focus on gaming design and development. Discussion will include the panelists’ individual journeys in gaming design, professional opportunities in gaming development and opportunities for using gaming for Native culture and language learning.
About the Speakers
Maritza Louis
Maritza Louis is a member of the Syilx / Secwépemc Nations and is a Visual Development Modeler with over 19 years of experience in Feature Animation, Games, VFX, Animated TV and Game Cinematics. Maritza’s portfolio of work includes contributions to titles like GTA V, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, Sausage Party, Spiderman: Homecoming, Ghostbusters, DC League Of Super-Pets, Hill Agency: PURITYdecay, Toto, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, and many others. Maritza is the author of her own narrative and pushes for her own continued learning and for more indigenous representation in animation. She supports fellow BIPOC artists in animation through her volunteer work as a mentor for Rise Up Animation, a member of Women In Animation, advisory Board Member of Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College and various Indigenous STEAM advocacy initiatives.
Meagan Byrne
Meagan Byrne is an Apihtawikosisân (fed: Métis Nation of Ontario) new media artist, game designer, writer, philosopher and founder of Achimostawinan Games (AchimoGames), an Indigenous indie game studio out of Hamilton, Ontario.
She has been creating digital interactive works since 2014 and is heavily influenced by both traditional RPG video games and Woodland Style art as well as all the stories she heard growing up. Her designs incorporate narrative, game mechanics, sound and traditional art and are deeply rooted in indigenous futurisms, language and Indigenous feminist theory. She sees her work as a constant struggle to navigate the complexities of Indigenous identity within a deeply colonized system. Meagan uses her work to explore questions of cultural belonging, the Indigenization of media and the future of Indigenous language and culture.
Her previous work has been shown in festivals such as imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Toronto; Different Games Conference, New York; and IndieCade; California. She was the first Digital and Interactive Coordinator at imagineNATIVE & developer of the iNDigital Space exhibition and Night of the Indigenous Devs showcase. She has served on the boards of Mixed Reality Performance Atelier, Dame Making Games, and Indigenous Routes. She currently co-organizes Indigenous Game Devs.
Her studio, Achimostawinan Games, developed the Indigenous cybernoir detective game Hill Agency: PURITYdecay out now on Steam and itch.io.
Sadekaronhes Esquivel
Sadekaronhes Esquivel, Kanyen’kehà:ka/ Mexican Indigenous/Bulgaria who’s maternal family resides in Tyendinaga Mohawk Reserve. He is currently living in the Duwamish homelands of Seattle. He comes from a family of artists, writers, beaders, painters, regalia crafters. Sadekaronhes uses the mediums of illustration and games to craft worlds and stories.
He is currently serving as the Artistic Lead/ Lead Concept Artist, for the Indigenous CyberNoir Detective game, “Hill Agency: PURITY / decay” [forthcoming]. Concept Artist, past titles include Blacklight: Retribution, Blacklight: Tango Down, SAW [video game], SAW II: Flesh & Blood. Comic Artist, he has contributed to the Indigenous comic anthologies MOONSHOT VOL3, and debuts as a writer in “Quiet Nights” in A HOWL: The Indigenous Werewolf anthology. Illustrator, he contributed to the Kickstarter hit Indigenous Science Fantasy tabletop role-playing game; “Coyote & Crow”. Writer, wrote character bios for the Water Tribe in the Avatar Legends table top role-playing game from Magpie Games.
He has also worked as a Volunteer EMT/Firefighter for the Confederated Colville Indian Tribes and is involved in non-profit outreach with the Native community in the Greater Seattle area.