Self-proclaimed 'Indigenerds' claim space in streaming, sci-fi and table top role-playing games

Three Indigenous artists and content creators are Indigenizing nerdy popular culture while battling stereotypes, building communities and collaborating with one another.

Alina Pete, an artist from Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan, has edited a collection of stories into a graphic novel called Indigenerds, which is set to publish next year.

Pete said popular culture spheres have been mainly white-centric and Pete has worked toward creating space for Indigenous creators. 

"I really like seeing these stories celebrated because so often we can get pigeon-holed and stereotyped especially with Native people," they told CBC Indigenous from their home in Surrey, B.C.

"There's this idea that we're really still focused in the past and a lot of people's perception of us is teepees and buckskin and not, like, playing Nintendo on the reserve like I used to with my cousins [when] I was a kid."

Indigenerds includes 11 stories from Indigenous people from all backgrounds.

Pete said much of their own work is within the science fiction genre, including the story they wrote for Indigenerds. Pete based their story off of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode which features a common trope in sci-fi.

A group of Indigenous people have occupied land and are looked at as a "primitive" society while the futuristic heroes resemble a "civilized" culture.

"They are being asked to move off of their planet once again; my story is how [the episode] affected me even as a young child," Pete said.

Pete remembers thinking it was cool to see that Indigenous people were represented in this futuristic setting. 

"We're in space. We've got our own sovereignty even if it means having to leave Earth," they said.

"But how depressing it was to know that even in the far future where everything is supposed to be utopian, we've fixed all of our problems now in space, [and] colonization is still happening and we are still being forcibly removed from our land."

Pete's own science fiction writing is written with a more hopeful and decolonized focus.

"It's sort of idealized, back to living in sync with the land and we [bring] a lot of sustainable practices, traditional practices in fact, with us back to the future," they said.

"I know we spend a lot of time thinking about the colonial traumas that are affecting us currently and I really like thinking about a future where that's no longer the case."

Another Indigenous author and illustrator said they enjoy starting with fresh ideas and not so much the old western themes.

Jordanna George, from T'Sou-ke Nation in B.C. and currently living in Coquitlam, is an artist and illustrator featured in Indigenerds with a story called Roll Your Own Way.

"In an ideal world [those tropes] are just a bridge to original ideas from Indigenous creators that don't use that western lens as a starting point," they said.

"We can just have our own things from the base up."

George's story in the novel revolves around Dungeons and Dragons, something they themselves are passionate about.

'Safe way to explore ... identity'

George said Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop games are similar to writing or any other creative outlet.

"You're building a story and you're building a character and you're building this narrative," they said.

"It's a safe way to explore your own identity [and] different ways of living."

Bianca Martin, a Mi'gmaq Twitch streamer from Gesgapegiag in Quebec, does a variety of things on her stream revolving around her own First Nations identity, like teaching her language and going through Indigenous literature to teach people Indigenous history and truths.

She said streaming has given her a sense of community by forming connections with people from different backgrounds.

"[I] have authentic connections with people who have similar values, who have similar ideas or who have an interest in learning," Martin said, adding her viewers come from around the world.

"Because they don't have access to that education, they don't have access to those resources."

Martin said along with providing education, streaming is a way for her to be in an industry where Indigenous people are underrepresented.

"Land back is about taking up space and taking back ownership and our ability to make decisions for ourselves and our land ... It also extends to digital environments, to me," Martin said.

"I want to occupy space that might not have been very friendly or safe [for] Indigenous people and I want us to take that space."