The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana has announced a partnership with edutainment software developer Red Knight Learning Systems in Dallas for the tribe's Coushatta Heritage Center, which will feature video games and other interactive exhibits designed to help preserve their native Koasati language and tribal heritage.
Red Knight will work with the tribe to design and create all the digital media throughout the Heritage Center, including a video game in which players explore a virtual world to experience how the Coushatta Tribe used nature and tools to survive.
According to Red Knight's president John Purdy, the center will be “a model for how museums and cultural centers can integrate modern learning technologies to enhance their visitors' experience.”
The facility will also feature other interactive and physical exhibits exploring the tribe's more than 500-year history and culture, including an interactive language game that allows visitors to hear and learn the Koasati language, a timeline wall where visitors can "interact with history" by sliding a display monitor along the wall, and an another exhibit that will allow visitors to make their own virtual Coushatta basket.
The Coushatta Heritage Center was made possible in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation, and the center will also double as a tribal library, archives, and language learning center for Coushatta tribal members.
"We need to draw strength from our past, while doing everything we can to preserve our future," says Kevin Sickey, Tribal Chairman. "The partnership with Red Knight provides us with important opportunities and tools for achieving our overall project goals."
