Preserving Native American Culture Via Videogames

Red Knight Learning Systems has joined with the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to develop an educational game designed to teach both tribal members and the general public about their history, culture and language.

The software is intended to be part of the new Coushatta Heritage Center, a high-tech facility featuring videogames and interactive hardware in various exhibits designed to help preserve the tribe’s heritage and native Koasati language. Included among the exhibits will be a 3-D videogame allowing players to explore a virtual word to learn how the tribe used nature and tools to survive, an interactive game centered around the Koasati language, and an “interactive basket-makiong exploration,” that will allow visitors to make their own virtual Coushatta basket.

“We need to draw strength from our past, while doing everything we can to preserve our future,” Tribal Chairman Kevin Sickety said. “The partnership with Red Knight provides us with important opportunities and tools for achieving our overall project goals.”

Red Knight Learning Systems President John Purdy said, “The Coushatta Tribe is refreshingly open to using technology for learning. They have always been known as leaders and innovators and this heritage center will be a model for how museums and cultural centers can integrate modern learning technologies to enhance their visitors’ experience.”