PRESENTED BY

Gloria O’Neill President & CEO

Storytelling forthe Next GenerationHarnessing the power of video gamesto share and celebrate cultures

educational services

employment & service training

Cook Inlet Tribal Council

child & family services

recovery & re-entry services

30-year-old organization serving 12,000+Alaska Native and American Indian people annually

CITC:Based in Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage

CITCService Area

Embracing technologyin Service of Our Mission

CITC Board embraced technology as a tool to preserve culture,reach our youth andadvance CITC’s vision

Engagement can lead to empowerment.

A New Modelof Self-sufficiency

CITC provides critical services delivered in unique ways

CITC wants to control its own destiny• Reduce dependency on

grants and non-sustainable funding streams

Our video game initiative is about making money to support CITC programs as we enter a new era of declining federal funding, coupled with increased need for CITC’s services.

Our Goal

Why Video Games?

Video games are a new way to share traditional wisdom

Video games are a big industry; continues to grow

Huge upside, especially in the education market, for well-designed games engaging youth and educators alike

Sharing Cultures Through Games

Video games can be seen as a modern iteration of the oral tradition

We set out to make games that leverage technology to share timeless, living stories with the world

Commitment to inclusive intergenerational sharing of values

Our Partners

New York City-based

industry leader in games-based learning

leadership team includes experienced professionals from commercial video games studios

commitment to education and achieving social impact

development studios in Seattle and Tempe

Smithsonian Enterprises and ASU are key partners

games in more than 6,000 schools nationwide

inaugural product in World Games genre!

released internationally Nov. 18

cooperative adventure game set in the Arctic

inspired by traditional stories, narrated in Iñupiaq

created through inclusive development process

www.neveralonegame.com

Telling our story in our voices

Process began by reaching out to elders, youth, storytellers and culture bearers for guidance, perspective and insight

This is unique for video games

Pitfalls of the past

“Hi! We’re these people and we would like to use your culture to develop a product!”

- Jack Dalton

Pitfalls of the past

“Those relationships are often called ‘collaboration,’ but really what that typically means is, Native people are advisors and that’s it.”

- Ishmael Hope

A New Game, Made Differently

We changed the process to involve members of the Alaska Native community in meaningful ways

3 dozen Alaska Native people teamed up with game designers during the scope of the project

Deep partnership that reflects the value of interdependence

Meaningful Involvement:Culture Bearers, Elders, Storytellers

Striving for authenticity:Field research at Smithsonian Institution’s

Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage

Intellectual Property Approach

New approach to IP addressed traditional Native concepts of property rights, plus U.S. copyright laws

Research determined that under Iñupiat tradition stories are owned by eldest in the family line

A New Paradigm for Video Games

pioneer the new genre, World Games• to be published under the

Upper One Games brand

sharing cultures from around the worldin compelling, innovative ways

pairing world-class game talent with indigenous experts to share andcelebrate culture

Never Alone in the Media

• Never Alone's message is about the connection between the community and the individual, how the ties that bind people together allow seemingly impossible tasks. If you've ever wondered how people live in painfully frigid environments like Alaska, playing Kisima Ingitchuna will tell you, in the very voice of the community where it happens.”

– Evan Narcisse, authorpublished 11/17/14

Voices From Gamers

 ”Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna in Iñupiaq) is different. Its very existence challenges me. Instead of eliciting self-pity, it stands in absolute defiance of everything that I've grown to be, not only telling me to be better, but showing me how.

– Daniel Sharkey, authorpublished 11//20/14, Eurogamer.net

“One word sticks with me after finishing Never Alone: respect. This game is full of it. Respect for the Iñupiat, respect for nature and animals, respect for the things we can't control, and respect for those who try to change their community for the better.”

– Jessica Conditt,published December 10, 2014

Games Give Us a Voice

Quyana

Stay connected at:

neveralonegame.com

elinemedia.comcitci.org