A twist on a classic video game gives Native Americans better representation

A twist on a classic video game gives Native Americans better representation

　　Transcript¹

　　An update of the classic '80s video game Oregon Trail places a greater focus on the lives of the Native Americans you meet on the trail westward². (This story originally aired on ATC on May 12, 2021.)

　　A MARTINEZ, HOST:

　　A generation of kids grew up playing an early educational video game called The Oregon Trail. It's about pioneers on the trail west. They remember it mostly for the moment their party died of dysentery. Well, now there's a different spin on the wagon³ trail game that focuses on more accurately⁴ representing Native Americans they meet along the way, and it includes playable Native characters. The Northwest News Network's Anna King has more.

　　ANNA KING, BYLINE⁵: Jazz Halfmoon, now 38, remembers playing Oregon Trail as a reward for doing well in class.

　　JAZZ HALFMOON: And it was on the old - super old computer. The green screen was, like, the only color.

　　KING: Halfmoon grew up on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in northeast Oregon.

　　HALFMOON: I remember being like, oh, like, the Indians killed off, you know, somebody in your wagon train, you know? And it's like, well, we're Indians, you know, like...

　　KING: The company, Gameloft tackled the redesign of Oregon Trail. Its target audience - the now-40-year-olds and their kids and more Native American players. Lead designer Jarrad Trudgen had to root out historical inaccuracies and cliches about Native American culture.

　　JARRAD TRUDGEN: Well, as a white, middle-class Australian, I don't think I can really speak to that.

　　KING: So he brought in some Indigenous⁶ historians. They listened to early test music for the game and said, back off the drums and flutes⁷ and don't use broken, stilted⁸ English. Trudgen got it.

　　TRUDGEN: It's like a trope to try and make Native American people seem primitive⁹ when actually there's a lot of bilingual or polylingual Native Americans at that time.

　　KING: The team of historians came up with more appropriate character names and advocated for new roles for Native Americans, not just guides or trappers. University of Nebraska historian Margaret Huettl has Lac Courte Oreilles tribal¹⁰ ancestors. She researched old photos and drawings for accurate depictions of different tribes' clothing and style.

　　MARGARET HUETTL: Initially¹¹, all of the Native people had braids, and I think we suggested maybe they don't all have to have braids.

　　KING: One major teaching moment for Trudgen - bows and arrows. He definitely wanted them. Huettl explained that if you were a Native American trapper at the time, you were more likely to have a rifle. So bows and arrows are an outdated¹² stereotype¹³.

　　David Lewis teaches anthropology¹⁴ and ethnic¹⁵ studies at Oregon State University, and he's a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, territories where many settlers ended up.

　　DAVID LEWIS: They were excited initially for all the new products, the guns and the metals and the fabrics¹⁶ and things like that.

　　KING: But the real Oregon Trail wasn't a positive story for Native Americans. The settlers kept coming.

　　LEWIS: By and large, the experience of Native people was one of continual loss for really the first 70 or 80 years.

　　KING: It's hard to put all that into a video game, but historian Margaret Huettl says the designers were serious about getting it right.

　　HUETTL: It was clear that they were listening to us and taking what we had to say seriously.

　　KING: Yes, the flutes are mostly gone, too, but they did leave one old moment in the new version. You can still die of dysentery.

　　For NPR News, I'm Anna King.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF GAMELOFT AND NICOLAS DUBE'S "UNDER THE SUN")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

3 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

4 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

7 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

8 stilted   

adj.虚饰的；夸张的

参考例句：

• All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.很快这种做作的交谈就结束了。
• His delivery was stilted and occasionally stumbling.他的发言很生硬，有时还打结巴。

9 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

10 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

12 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

13 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

14 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

15 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

16 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。