Kinship Table
la taab di li vwaazayn
Kinship Table, la taab di vwaazayn, is a Michif open-world fantasy video game experience based on folklore, land-based knowledge and cultural history of Red River Métis. Kinship Table simulates different worlds based on folklore characters like the Rougarou and fresh-water Mermaids, that the player can navigate through by following portals to get to the final level that hosts a kitchen party with everyone from the neighbourhood.
Character + Concept Art
This collection of watercolour paintings were part of my early process in visualizing the world for Kinship Table. I spent months researching children's books learning from my community's elders and hearing the stories of our folklore. Some stories I've known as a child but most I have learnt as an adult.
I started to ask myself 'What does the home of little people look like?' Elders like Maria Campbell write about how they live by rivers in rocky landscapes. This is an example of where the visual of their home started for me. Other elements of traditional Red River settlement practices on river lots, with forest, field and water access also informed the video game design. I know fresh water is so central to our community, but we had stories of mermaids. What would a lake look like if fresh water mermaids inhabited it?
imagineNATIVE
New Artist in Digital + Interactive Award 2026
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the largest Indigenous festival in the world. In June, 2026 I went for the second time and had my video game premiere at the festival. I got to install it, bring some custom game stickers and had a guestbook that anyone visiting the festival could sign. I did not expect so many people to share their thoughts and excitement for the game but it was great to see! I am honoured to win the award for New Artist in Digital + Interactive, which was handed to me by Maize Longboat who won the award a few years earlier for his game Terra Nova. It was such an honour meeting him, as his work inspired me in my architecture practice. Being part of the iNdigital Arcade at imagineNATIVE was an incredible experience getting to have my game in the hands of such a big audience.
