Created by Ryan Schaefer and Eyzaah Bouza, Trails and Overflow takes players through the South Slave and requires players to learn Cree (nêhiyawêwin) along the way.
Fort Smith, NWT-A workshop hosted by the Northwest Territory Métis Nation and non-profit arts organization, Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) was the birthplace of a new board game to help students learn about the Cree language and way of life.
Two young men from Fort Smith, Ryan Schaefer and Eyzaah Bouza, attended the workshop in 2018, when they were 18 years old. While there, they designed Trails and Overflow, a game that was like Snakes and Ladders with a traditional twist as players learn Cree vocabulary and race to the end of a South Slave trap line.
"It's pretty cool, something that me and my buddy made a few years ago, joking around, actually turning into something big," Schaefer told reporters from CBC News. "I hope [players] get a little bit of awareness of Cree language and stuff that goes around in the North"
Currently a prototype of the game has art and pieces designed by Yellowknife artist Cody Fennell. A languages manager with N.W.T. Métis Nation and the WAMP workshop director spent part of the summer showcasing the prototype for feedback. .
He and Davis Heslep, the workshop director with WAMP, plan to travel the territory in August showcasing a prototype of the game for feedback.
Since the game promotes Cree language and culture, its development is supported by the organization's funding through the department of education, culture and employment. As a result, plans are for Trails and Overflow to be free for anyone who wants to own a copy.
Projects like Trails and Overflow "empower people to reflect themselves and their culture and their identity," Davis Heslep of WAMP told CBC, noting the importance of of northern audiences being reflected in their own pop culture. "We're just excited for people to get excited about this game because, you know, it's kind of like a homegrown project," he said adding the game will "hopefully reflect the portion of the N.W.T in a really awesome way."
The workshop at which the game originated was part of the NWT Métis Nation's Cree language program in partnership with WAMP's Hackspace program, which helps young people across the NWT develop digital skills like 3D printing, computer programming, and video game design.
The workshop paired Cree Elders and language-holders with youth to teach and share their language over games.
