Indian Comics Irregular #152

Michael Sheyahshe (Caddo), author of "Native Americans in Comics," also writes
about Natives in video games. He published an article on the subject in Native
Peoples magazine (Jan./Feb. 2007). Here's how he describes the early efforts to
include Natives:

1980s: Video-game Indians in the '80s were typically backdrops in Western
games, but never as a primary centralized hero.

One notable fiasco from the 1980s: Custer's Revenge (Atari 2600)--with a Native
female character used only as a sexual object for a crude Custer
look-alike--created by Mystique, which specialized in pornographic "Swedish
Erotica" video games.

1990s: The 1990s brought us the first Native American video game central hero
in Turok: Dinosaur Hunter from Acclaim Entertainment. Sadly, Turok had many of
the same stereotypes we come to expect: feathers, fringe, tracking ability,
communing with mystic forces, etc. Yet Turok was the main character--finally!

The Latest Video Games

More games featuring Natives have appeared since 2000, but they aren't
necessarily any better. Here are some of the more well-known ones:

Gun: Surrounded by an onslaught of hatchet-wielding Indians attempting to
blockade a railway trestle, the "hero" fearlessly raises his rifle and begins to
fire indiscriminately.

The ultimate goal is to kill all those who stand in the way of the hero's quest.
During this particular mission, it was a band of Apache that was in the gun's
crosshairs.

This depiction of the Wild West, whether this scenario ever occurred in the late
19th century, is being portrayed in thousands of homes across America in the
form of a video game and has drawn the condemnation of an American Indian group.
The Association for American Indian Development has launched a petition
demanding the recall of the game GUN as produced by Activision Inc., of Santa
Monica, Calif. (Indian Country Today, 3/13/06)

Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer (PS2): Brave draws from Native American
iconography to dress up what looks to be a typical but solid platforming
experience.

The mandatory plotline begins as Brave, a young Native American brave (oddly
enough), is passing the final trials to become a full-fledged warrior. And it's
not a moment too soon, of course, as for some reason an ancient evil called
Wendigo suddenly decides to resurrect itself and lay waste to Brave's peaceful
valley. With his tribe decimated and his grandfather killed, Brave follows the
old man's final advice by setting out to find Spirit Dancer, the warrior who
defeated Wendigo long ago. (GameSpy, 7/10/06)

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs: As much fun as Age of Empires III was, it
sometimes felt as if something was missing. Maybe it was the strangely subdued
presence of the Native Americans. Ensemble's Bruce Shelley actually discussed
this during an October 2005 conversation with GameSpy. The upshot, according to
him, was that the team decided, for a variety of reasons, to focus on the
European experience in the initial release.

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs introduces three new players into the game's
strategic mix: the Iroquois Confederacy, the Sioux Nation and the Aztec Empire.
In the version I played, only the Iroquois were available, but even my limited
time with them quickly demonstrated the different strategic "feel" of the new
Native American tribes. (GameSpy, 8/8/06)

To read Sheyahshe’s full article and learn more about these games, go to
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/navidgam.htm .

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics