Topic Overview

Similar to indigenous representation in tv and film where depictions of indigenous men are more prevalent than women, indigenous women are particularly underrepresented in video games. In this article we highlight four different depictions of indigenous women through Never Alone, Pocahontas, Assassin’s Creed III, and Darkwatch. Due to this disparity of female representation, we were only able to include two playable characters in our list. Other depictions include non-playable female characters who are kidnapped or killed to provide the male protagonist with motivation, and non-playable female characters who attempt to sway the male protagonist to the side of evil.

Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)

Game Summary

Never Alone is a two-dimensional platformer developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat people. The player character, Nuna, is a young girl from an Iñupiat village. As the game begins, a blizzard destroys the village and Nuna sets off on a quest to restore balance to the natural environment. She is quickly joined in her travels across the tundra by Fox, an arctic fox, who helps her navigate the challenging landscape. This game is entirely narrated in the Iñupiaq language and has both a single-player (where the player controls both Nuna and Fox) and cooperative mode.

Female Representation in Never Alone

Interestingly, the original tale of Kunuuksaayuk, on which Never Alone is based, features a young male protagonist rather than a young female protagonist. In a short blog post titled “Why a Girl,” the game developers note that they wanted to “create a strong, resourceful, smart, brave character who could be a great role model for girls”. They worked with elders, who “blessed” the switch and provided important oversight for the narrative elements. 

Nuna is a generally silent protagonist. The story is narrated in Iñupiaq with English subtitles. We see Nuna as adept and capable in her surroundings. She wears traditional clothing and uses a bola to traverse the landscape.

Other games with similar representation:

Unfortunately, as of the writing of this article, there are relatively few games with female protagonists. Another Indigenously Determined Game, Mîkiwâm: Chapter One, also features a female protagonist.

Pocahontas

Game Summary

 As part of the promotional effort behind Disney’s 1995 Pocahontas animated film, a Pocahontas game was developed and released on both the Gameboy and on the Sega Genesis. The game opens with Pocahontas being instructed to seek out animal spirits, who will help the tribe through a coming “time of danger and change”. As Pocahontas, working with her raccoon companion Meeko, assists animal spirits she gains powers that help her move forward and complete additional puzzles and tackle new environments. 

Female Representation in Pocahontas

The game follows the same basic story as the movie. Thus, some of the criticisms often made of the movie would certainly apply to the game. However, the game also places substantially more emphasis on Pocahontas coming into her power (via her quest to find the animal spirits and solve puzzles).  As a female protagonist, she is depicted as active and capable in her environment. The first half of the game is spent solving puzzles and acquiring new abilities, and it is only at roughly the halfway mark that John Smith appears for the first time (unlike the movie, which features John Smith from the first scene). 

Other games with similar representation:

Pocahontas is not the only Native American woman to appear in a game based on a Disney movie. While not occupying a similar narrative role, Tiger Lily also appears in 2002’s Peter Pan: Adventures in Neverland. Tiger Lily plays a much more minor role in this game.  

Assassin’s Creed III

Game Summary

Assassin’s Creed III continues Desmond Miles’s quest to save the world by acting as his ancestors. In this installment of the third-person action-adventure game, players act as two of Desmond Miles’s ancestors: Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton. Through these two characters, players experience multiple moments of American history including the American Revolution. The majority of this game follows Ratonhnhaké:ton on his quest to save his people from the Templars and from the notion of tyranny itself. 

Female Representation in Assassin’s Creed III

While the majority of characters and all of the playable characters are men, players are introduced early to Kaniehtí:io, Ratonhnhaké:ton’s mother. She is introduced in Sequence 2 when she demands that Haytham free her and Haytham offers to protect her and see her safe. Kaniehtí:io then appears as an NPC guide for Haytham on his next set of missions where they also presumably fall in love. After these missions, it is revealed that Haytham is actually an evil Templar agent and we are handed over briefly to Kaniehtí:io who introduces her and Haytham’s son: Ratonhnhaké:ton. 

While Kaniehtí:io is involved in the sequences demonstrating some of Ratonhnhaké:ton’s childhood (allowing players to learn new mechanics such as using hints and hunting), she is killed in Sequence 4 when the village is set on fire by (presumably) the Templars. The player is forced to not only watch Ratonhnhaké:ton try and fail to save his mother, but also participate in this attempt through prompts asking the player to press certain controls to no avail. 

After Kaniehtí:io’s death, she is often used as motivation for Ratonhnhaké:ton’s drive to kill his father and ultimately save his people. Kaniehtí:io is the female NPC with the most screentime and after her, we do not interact with a female NPC in the same way.

Other games with similar representation:

In ACIII Kaniehtí:io acts in multiple roles for the player, first as a guide to Haytham and then eventually as Ratonhnhaké:ton’s motivation after her death. This theme is prevalent in other video games such as Prey and Age of Empires 3. In Prey, Jen is the girlfriend of the main player character Tommy. She acts as his motivation throughout the game, as he tries to save her before ultimately having to kill her for the greater good.

In Age of Empires 3, Nonahkee is the mother of Nathaniel Black and is used as his initial driving force for joining the revolutionary army.

Darkwatch

Game Summary

Darkwatch is a first-person shooter Western, infused with a steampunk aesthetic and horror monsters and tropes. The game describes the player character stating: “You are Jericho Cross. Gunslinger. Renegade. Outlaw”. As Jericho, players unwittingly open a vault containing Lazerus, an ancient vampire. The game then follows Jericho’s journey to stop the evil forces of Lazerus from taking over the west. Along the way, players are assisted by the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Cassidy Sharp, representing the forces of good, and Tala, a Native American woman who comes to stand for temptation, power, and corruption.  

Female Representation in Darkwatch

While Tala is initially a member of the vampire-hunting organization Darkwatch along with Jericho and Cassidy, she seduces Jericho and uses him to become a vampire. She then leaves the organization and seeks to tempt Jericho to take on Lazerus’ former role as leader of the forces of evil. In the “good” ending of the game, Jericho resists her temptation and kills her. In the “bad” ending of the game, Jericho gives in to his temptation, and teams up with Tala to kill Cassidy. Unwilling to share the power, Jericho then turns on Tala and kills her as well.  

Tala’s depiction, like Cassidy’s, is overtly sexualized. Much of the marketing for the game played up the sexuality of the two main female characters. Indeed, Tala was featured in the first Playboy spread to include video game characters, wearing only a feather in her hair (October, 2004). One year later a follow-up spread again highlighted female game characters, and both Tala and Cassidy were featured. Tala’s dialog and movements throughout the game emphasize her sexuality and become a pointed contrast to Cassidy, who becomes a ghost partway through the game but continues to guide Jericho in his missions.  

Game designer and scholar Elizabeth Lapensee notes that, at one point in development, Tala was actually pitched as the main character for the game. However, the marketing team intervened with concerns about the viability of a game with a Native American woman as the protagonist, and so her role was revised. 

Other games with similar representation

Tala’s role in the game is primarily to act first as a partner (before she is turned into a vampire) and then as a negative, tempting influence attempting to draw Jericho to the side of evil. Other games have similarly situated Native American women as helpmates to protagonist men. Humba-Wumba is an indigenous woman who appears as an easter egg in Banjo Kazoie, and as a quest giver and vendor in Banjo-Tooie.