Chugachmiut's Sugt'stun language game gets new gameplay footage

Nunaka means "my village" in Sugt'stun. It is also the name of a free mobile game that drops a child into one, a 3D Sugpiaq village where the language is spoken by the people who live there. Chugachmiut released new gameplay footage of it Sept. 1.

Chugachmiut, the tribal consortium serving the seven Native communities of the Chugach Region, found that its number of fluent Sugt'stun speakers was falling at the same time screens were taking up more of its children's days. It decided to build something the children would already be looking at.

The game is built for ages three to five and organized around school readiness. A child makes an avatar, dresses it in traditional regalia, and explores the village with Emaa and Apaa, virtual grandparents who introduce the activities and the vocabulary that goes with them. Children pick berries, identify sea creatures and paddle a qayaq. The activities also build fine motor skills.

Chugachmiut's Heritage Preservation Program developed it with the studio FableVision over nearly four years, working with Chugachmiut Birth to Five Head Start and, in 2022, with the Nanwalek IRA Council and the Port Graham Village Council. Elders recorded the voices in the game. Young Sugt'stun speakers tested it. The U.S. Department of Education paid for the work.

It is now in the Head Start centers at Nanwalek and Port Graham, where most of the children are Sugpiaq.

Since its 2023 release the game has taken four education awards, including a silver at the Anthem Awards, a win in the pre-K category at the EdTech Awards and a gold medal in the international Serious Play competition. Chugachmiut's summer newsletter noted it had also been named a Webby Honoree, a tier the awards place in the top 25 percent of entries worldwide.

Nunaka is free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Anyone can play it, including someone learning their first words of Sugt'stun.