During General Council weekend (September 20-21), the Shawnee Tribe hosted Firaxis Games’ Pete Murray (Learning & Development Manager) and Lead Producer Andrew Frederiksen, developers of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, due to be released next February.
Murray and Frederiksen kicked off their Shawnee visit with attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Emma “Mock” Donaldson saawanwaatoweewika (Shawnee language house) on Friday, September 20, in Miami. They gave brief comments about the collaboration between Firaxis and the Shawnee Language Immersion Program (SLIP), Tecumseh’s character and Shawnee assets in the upcoming Civilization VII game.
Later that evening, Murray and Frederiksen joined tribal citizens, community members and staff for meat gravy & frybread and stomp dancing at the Miami Tribe Council House.
Murray and Frederiksen took stage Saturday morning to reveal and present the Civilization VII game to Shawnee citizens during the annual meeting of the tribal council at the Craig County Fairgrounds and Community Center in Vinita, OK. They spoke of how initial requests developed into an ongoing relationship they have working with the Shawnee Tribe, especially the SLIP staff. In addition to incorporating the Shawnee language into the game, they researched old family photographs, archaeological material, and consulted with cultural knowledge-keepers on content to share or not share.
Civilization VII had a table with promotional materials available for citizens during the annual meeting.
