New video game adventure to introduce players to Mi'kmaw language and culture

Video game enthusiasts and Mi'kmaw language lovers have a reason to celebrate.

Green Robot Studios, based in Sydney, N.S., is set to release a PC video game at the end of 2024 highlighting Mi'kmaw language and culture.

The title of Kun'tewiktuk - A Mi'kmaw Adventure is derived from the Mi'kmaw word meaning "place of the rock."

It takes players thousands of years in the past to follow the journey of siblings Wasuek (meaning "flower") and U'n (meaning "fog"), who are mysteriously separated. Players guide Wasuek on her quest to reunite with her brother, while adventuring through a Cape Breton landscape and defeating characters inspired by Mi'kmaw folklore. 

The game's creator, Shawn Green of Green Robot Studios in Sydney N.S., is non-Indigenous but makes educational games that share history from Cape Breton.

He said the pandemic and its change to his work was a catalyst to creating this project. Green Robot Studios originally designed educational games for use in museums and exhibits, but with museums being closed due to COVID-19, the company switched gears to focusing on video games for public use, while still maintaining the educational aspects.

In an effort to ensure an authentic and respectful portrayal of Mi'kmaw culture and language, Green partnered with Kji-Wikuom Studios, an audio/video engineering studio based in Eskasoni First Nation that focuses on the preservation and revitalization of the Mi'kmaw language. 

Green calls the partnership between the two studios "serendipitous," and a relationship that grew after a phone call with Tom Johnson, founder of Kji-Wikuom studios.

"I said to him, 'We're in the early stages of developing a video game that's based on Mi'kmaw legends and lore.' He said, 'I'm in the early stages of establishing a recording and production studio dedicated to Mi'kmaw culture and language and storytelling,'" said Green.

"And that was it — the rest is history."

Thanks to the partnership, Kji-Wikuom provided the project with resources including language consultation, audio recordings, casting, performances, promotions, community outreach and more. 

"We wouldn't have done the project without that level of collaboration," said Green.

Janaya Paul, who is Mi'kmaw from Eskasoni and studio co-ordinator at Kji-Wikuom, said the studio's mission is an obligation to the Mi'kmaw nation to pass on the language and keep it strong for future generations. 

She said she feels a video game is an exciting medium to share language and legends.