Although not exactly roleplaying, Virtual Powwow and living museums in Second Life offer a starting point for future discussions of the educational uses of historical roleplaying in virtual worlds. It may also bring together the seemingly disparate topics of this blog, including Wild West and Native American roleplaying in Second Life, visualizing history, and educational roleplaying games. The powwow itself can be contextualized within two pertinent discussions: the shifting of knowledge from experts to amateurs, and innovation vs imitation.

The largest difference between Virtual Powwow and the Native American roleplaying I’ve studied (which includes authentic dance and ritual) deals with ownership and who controls the historical narrative manifested within the simulation. The roleplaying sims I’ve come across are typically created by enthusiasts, who are “playing Indian” (yes, a direct reference to Philip Deloria… more on that in another post) as opposed to the more traditional presentation of historical knowledge by experts. In many cases, the results of this shift are historical inaccuracies, and the emergence of stereotypes within the fragmented knowledge of amateurs. That is not to say that amateurs are incapable of accurately representing history through roleplaying, but instead indicates the necessity of developing new computer-based teaching strategies and augmentative instruction to guide amateurs through their learning.

The group struggled with representing native groups accurately – particularly regarding who participated in the virtual powwow. Their website shared the following:

Initially we were thinking that we could have the learners participate as dancers in the powwow. However, after initial investigation related to this, it was decided it would be a potential problem having non-natives participate as if they were natives. We subsequently changed the design to have the dancers be accepted members of the host group. The host group would consist of Native Americans with knowledge of powwows.

Even though the simulation was intended to engage students and individuals who attended the powwow, the history and culture represented within the simulation was controlled by natives, who themselves were “experts.” Students attending the powwow remained spectators. That distinction hits at the heart another hot topic within the Second Life educators community, “innovation vs imitation.” Although there is an impulse among tech-savvy educators and digital historians alike to use technology for everything, this use of technology seems be nothing more than a recreation of what already happens in real life. While the virtual powwow may be a great way to learn across long-distances, it pales in comparison to physically attending a powwow.

Rather than imitating what happens in real life, my vision of a virtual living museum is innovative. In many ways it’s not a museum at all – but a historical laboratory where students can explore history in the virtual world. Instead of limiting the participation of dance to natives, students could be engaged. In my historical laboratory they would spend time creating the artifacts used within the simulation, and learn about the history of the tribes they represent. Citations are attached to objects and the environment they create is no longer a place they visit to observe others, but one which they have ownership of. Each piece of the simulation and living museum is an assignment, which gradually builds throughout the course of a semester as students learn. If actual tribes were interested in participating, that would be another way of historicizing the content within the sim. Collectively, these students share their ideas and participate as a class together in a powwow, which becomes a celebration of culture and the knowledge they’ve gained.

That ideal scenario outlines the basic thrust of my pedagogical research in Second Life. I’m not wedded to this exact idea, however I see great deal of potential for students to represent ideas and themselves within virtual worlds, particularly through the creation of objects “in-world.” That synthesis alone makes further research worthwhile, but the technology itself also lends itself to a unique form of communication and learning through our own virtual interactions.

When teleporting to the sim, I was given a free visitor’s outfit that’s meant to historicize my character with appropriate clothing. This is a common practice in historical roleplaying sims – however there’s a social stigma associated with this clothing, it instantly identifies you as a newbie. (In a similar vein – in Sigil one of the first things I had to do was purchase a virtual horse. It was a status symbol that, once I had one, allowed me to speak to others more freely.) With tacky pants and paw print tattoos on my chest I explored.

My initial impression of La Tribu (from what I could gather with my limited comprehension of French) was that it has very rigid gender roles. My guide frequently described the activities of virtual natives in terms of gender – men do this, women do that. A first hand account from a citizen historian confirms my reactions by writing:

We are standing on top of a small hill, where a little cascade of waterfalls runs into a few, deep blue pools. This place is for women only. “Men are only allowed up here if the women invite them.” Women are not oppressed in this small French speaking tribe I’ve been invited to visit. They each have their own teepees, with which they are free to do whatever they wish. The teepees are loosely arranged in the vicinity of the common campfire, around which household chores are performed.

I have to brush up on my French, but I hope to explore this further in the near future

The Whites. We don’t like them. But we arn’t savages and out of control either. Whites are good for trade and weapons so we have to keep a balance to get guns and supplies. One thing though is we believe in a life for a life and this could be an issue is someone from the tribe gets themselves killed in town. Any Armed Whites coming into our lands is fair game and most likely won’t survive an encounter unless they choose to leave naked and humble. White woman often were playthings for single braves and found their womanhood a bit battered from the encounter but rarely were they killed. Children often were adopted if their parents were dead and made full members of the tribe so no mistreatment of our adopted children. All soldiors entering our lands are killed outright unless there is a treaty made. They travel in groups so once again for safty sakes don’t ever travil alone. Alone and armed is a fast way to die. Don’t expect the white men to talk first if you’re armed. Don’t go into town armed, an armed Indian is fair game in town. Going unarmed means you’re there to trade in peace.

Note: Any grammatical or spelling errors haven’t been changed from the original documents.