Inupiat Language Survival through the Video Game Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Inupiat Language Survival through the Video Game Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Georgina Gill

Technology plays a critical role in reaching the youth and broader audiences with language revitalization. This study analyzes the Inupiat video game Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) developed by Cook Inlet Tribal Council Enterprises (CITC) and Upper One Games as a response to colonial trauma, language loss, and youth engagement. The video game developed as a response to colonial trauma through language revitalization in an interactive platform created by indigenous people to reach the youth of the community and a broader audience. Kunuuksaayuka is the oral story in Never Alone told by tribal member, Robert Cleveland, in Inupiaq about the eternal blizzard which represents Inupiat survival and resilience.  The paper focuses on primary sources from the Inupiat people, other Native American groups, and global players of the video game. Observations were made through ethnographic data, interviews, and historical documentation of the Inupiat people and their resilience to colonial trauma. Suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and language loss are factors of colonial trauma for the Inupiat people’s experience. The theme of survival is pertinent in Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) and Inupiat culture to keeping traditional knowledge alive. They have successfully reached a local and global audience through the interactive video game. The positive feedback of Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) from a broad audience has paved a new and innovative way for indigenous communities to engage their youth in language and cultural revitalization.