Isabelle Buga / Staff reporter
Microsoft Canada has been working in collaboration with the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlam) First Nations on a new Minecraft Education Edition game mode – an opportunity for School District 43 (SD43) students to experience coastal peoples’ living practices through the popular world-building game.
British Columbia’s SD43 has been experimenting working with Minecraft in schools since 2021, focusing towards grades 5-8. Previously being used for teaching math, SD43 has been partnering with Microsoft to create a new game mode based off of the First Nations coastal community of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm.
The in-game world aims to increase awareness of first nations peoples’ artistry and practices. Players will start in a coastal community, where they’ll have to help its’ members prepare for winter using traditional Indigenous methods, such as maintaining camas fields or harvesting salmon from gillnets.
The launch introduces four exciting and educational activities that students can explore:
1. Cedar: The Tree of Life – Learn the tree of life story and discover why Cedar is revered, and the protocols for thanking the tree for its invaluable gifts. After giving thanks, sustainably harvest bark and enough planks to craft a bentwood box.
2. Salmon Gillnetting and Smokehouse – Understand the incredible importance of salmon, learn about the First Salmon ceremony and how the gillnet provides a sustainable harvest.
3. Plants – Dig camas and gather salmonberries, learning the importance of taking not what you can, but what you need, leaving berries for the birds and bears and ensuring successful camas crops in the future.
4. Culminating Build – After completing the harvest tasks and learning from knowledge keepers you meet on your journey, take what you have learned and build your own village up the coast.
Source: Microsoft Canada
“Through the game I can feel really connected to my own lands and to my own culture when I see this game coming to the point it has. [The new world helps students] realize the diversity of the land itself, the richness of how much our people really relied on the resources that were around us, but also how we were able to utilize it and to share with one another and all cultural teachings about being conscious of resource gathering. – Nancy Joe, a member and cultural advisor for the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation in a press release.
“Students can explore a holistic learning environment at their own pace to build meaningful connections with local First Nations,” declared Elka Walsh, learning and teaching lead at Microsoft Canada.
For Gleneagle students and those across SD43, this is an amazing opportunity to understand more about local Indigenous culture in a fun, engaging way. Many are already familiar with Minecraft, but even if you aren’t, this game version is very beginner friendly.
The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm game mode will be available to all SD43 students and individuals across Canada. For more information on downloading, see here.
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