Applied Science, Faculty of
Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of
DSpace
La taab di li vwaazayn
UBCV
Adams, Robyn
In representations of Métis architecture across Turtle Island, the discourse is often reduced to a handful of iconic symbols: the Red River framed home specifically with dovetail joinery, the Métis sash, and the Red River cart. All incredibly thoughtful and intricate bodies of work and knowledge, however, this thesis is built within the context of contributing to that growing body of architectural thought by offering another seat at the table, one rooted in kinship, story, and worldbuilding. Divided into four sections, this work builds an architecture of kinship, where form, craft, and story pass across geographies, time and generations. The chapter Grandfather Stories highlights historical Red River construction built between the 1860s and 1940s, featuring three variations of joinery techniques that operate as utilitarian forms, but also as fantastical expressions of the Michif everyday. Grandmother Stories features grandmother pieces, historic Red River beadwork, that highlight land-based knowledge, maps teachings, kinship, memory, and land, presenting a beadwork map as both record and a design tool. The Children Stories chapter engages with Michif folklore beings and teachings from mermaids to monsters that occupy both the real and mythological cultural landscape of the Michif. The final chapter, Kinship Table, la taab di li vwaazayn, begins to worldbuild from this research and folklore stories, inviting them to shape space through a fantasy VR video game that positions worldbuilding as a method of Indigenous Architecture. Rather than an escape, fantasy becomes a return; an immersive way to design with land, story, spirit, and kin. This work does not aim to define Indigenous architecture, but rather to offer the Kinship Table to its abundance.
KinshipTablela taab di li vwaazaynTheRobyn AdamsBFA honoursUniversity of Manitoba, 2020Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture in The Faculty of Graduate Studies, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Architecture ProgramCommittee Chair: Tania Gutiérrez-MonroyCommittee Members: Shawn Bailey, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Narita Reyes Ico“To paint the world, is to believe in it.”1- Billy-Ray Belcourtrobynadams.caCopyright © May 2025 by Robyn AdamsANAVAAN FRONT MATTERThe worldbuilding and dreaming I am able to envision in this work is only possible because of the kitchen tables I’ve had the privilege to sit at, and the resilience my relatives had to protect our family’s stories, rights and land. Maarsii,to my partner Kevin, my family, and friends.to my mentors over the past 4 years,Rana Abughannam, Goli Jalali, Joanne Gates. Rafico Ruiz, Isadora Chicoine-Marinier, Ella den Elzen through the CCA. Tiffany Shaw, Rachelle Lemieux and Jennifer Smith through the Métis community. Jennifer Cutbill and Kristina Zalite, through architecture practice.And friends,Narita, Iris, Odessa and Sid who helped strengthen this work through the best kind of friendship. Brent, Julien and Tilde for contributing heartwork through song, access and language.Bruis, Naomi, Nicole, and Reanna for inspiring and encouraging me along the way.And of course thank-you to my committee, Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy, Shawn Bailey, Billy-Ray Belcourt and Narita Reyes Ico. Maarsii for helping me pull-in a million stretched out thoughts.vi viiTania Gutiérrez-Monroy, chairTANIA GUTIÉRREZ-MONROY is an architectural historian who studies architecture as a material and signifying practice that spatializes colonial and patriarchal forces as well as resistance mechanisms. Her research focuses on the ways in which different categories of identity intersect, are negotiated in, and transform space. Thematically, her work spans historical examples of ephemeral and practiced architectures, race and gender in spaces of conflict, and landscapes of Indigenous resistance. Prior to joining SALA, Tania was an assistant professor of architecture at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and she held the Emerging Scholar Fellowship at the G. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston between 2021 and 2022. She holds a PhD and an MSc in Architecture from McGill University, as well as a BArch from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She has also taught architectural history, theory, design, and research methods at the University of Houston, the University of British Columbia, Louisiana State University, and Université Laval.Billy-Ray BelcourtBILLY-RAY BELCOURT (he\him) is from the Driftpile Cree Nation in northwest Alberta. He won the Griffin Poetry Prize for his debut collection This Wound is a World. He has twice been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award—once in poetry for the debut and in non-fiction for his memoir, A History of My Brief Body. Both his works of fiction, A Minor Chorus and Coexistence, were national bestsellers. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.COMMITTEE MEMBERSShawn BaileySHAWN BAILEY is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, a father, husband, and educator whose work is grounded in gratitude for Indigenous knowledge and its role in shaping contemporary practice. His research and teaching explore the intersections of Indigenous teachings, sustainability, and relational design. Honoured with the ASCA New Faculty Teaching Award, Shawn’s contributions to pedagogy have also been recognized by his university’s Indigenous community for centering Indigenous perspectives in education. His work aims to meaningfully integrate Indigenous knowledge into curriculum development, design processes, and community collaboration. Shawn maintains a small design practice that complements his academic work, focusing on experimental methods of representation and making that deepen relationships with land and place. He is committed to creating spaces and initiatives that are rooted in Indigenous knowledge, supporting more sustainable and culturally inclusive futures. Through his teaching, research, and design, Shawn promotes a path of reciprocity, care, and transformative learning.Narita Reyes Ico(non-voting member)NARITA REYES ICO (she\her) is a Filipina artist currently living and learning as a guest on the unceded and ancestral land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people where she studies as a Master of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Dual Degree student at the University of British Columbia. She is a recipient of the IOC IPC IAKS Bronze Medal Architecture & Design Award for Young Professionals 2021 for her conceptual design of an accessible recreational facility center. When not engaged in her studies or professional responsibilities, she enjoys spending her time outdoors or with her loved ones. As the daughter of two parents from the archipelago known today as the Philippines, her experiences in her ancestral village of Saysain, Bagac, Bataan serve as the foundational inspiration for her work. Traditional practices, cultural teachings, and oral histories help weave, paint, and photograph her and her family’s stories. Narita’s art originated from the desire to deepen her cultural roots and over time have evolved into a celebration of the Philippine spirit.viii ixpositionalityThe author of this research, Robyn Adams (she\her), is Red River Métis and Ukrainian. She is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation with family that took scrip in Rat River Settlement. Robyn currently resides, studies, and works on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Sel̓íl̓witulh First Nations. She was raised between Sandy Hook and Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Treaty 1 Territory. Winnipeg’s drinking water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, in Treaty 3 Territory. Manitoba is the ancestral and traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. Northern Manitoba also includes ancestral lands to the Inuit.The Kinship Table world and work situates itself inside both the geographic and scholarly work of Métis in Manitoba and across the homelands.The folklore stories highlighted in this work have been mostly learnt through recent research. Some characters I knew from a young age, but many of the teachings I learnt more recently. It’s important to continue hearing different versions of these stories from others, and keeping them alive.abstractIn representations of Métis architecture across Turtle Island, the discourse is often reduced to a handful of iconic symbols: the Red River framed home specifically with dovetail joinery, the Métis sash, and the Red River cart. All incredibly thoughtful and intricate bodies of work and knowledge, however, this thesis is built within the context of contributing to that growing body of architectural thought by offering another seat at the table, one rooted in kinship, story, and worldbuilding.Divided into four sections, this work builds an architecture of kinship, where form, craft, and story pass across geographies, time and generations. The chapter Grandfather Stories highlights historical Red River construction built between the 1860s and 1940s, featuring three variations of joinery techniques that operate as utilitarian forms, but also as fantastical expressions of the Michif everyday. Grandmother Stories features grandmother pieces, historic Red River beadwork, that highlight land-based knowledge, maps teachings, kinship, memory, and land, presenting a beadwork map as both record and a design tool. The Children Stories chapter engages with Michif folklore beings and teachings from mermaids to monsters that occupy both the real and mythological cultural landscape of the Michif. The final chapter, Kinship Table, la taab di li vwaazayn, begins to worldbuild from this research and folklore stories, inviting them to shape space through a fantasy VR video game that positions worldbuilding as a method of Indigenous Architecture. Rather than an escape, fantasy becomes a return; an immersive way to design with land, story, spirit, and kin. This work does not aim to define Indigenous architecture, but rather to offer the Kinship Table to its abundance.x xitable of contentsTitle Page iAcknowledgement s vCommittee Members viPositionality viiiAbstract ixTable of Contents xList of Figures xiiThesis Statement xivKitchen Table Methodology xviMichif Architecture Acrossthe Métis Homeland 20Tracing Michif StoriesThrough Beadwork Analysis 48Children Book Teachingsand Folklore Analysis 58WorldbuildingThrough Poetry 74Game Designand Methodology 82Bibliography ciiEndnotes cviANAVAANFRONT MATTERGRANDFATHER STORIESGRANDMOTHER STORIESCHILDRENSTORIESPOETRYKINSHIP TABLEVIDEO GAMEAAN ARYAYREND MATTERxii xiiilist of figuresFig. 1 - Folklore watercolour concept art, 2024. Author. iFig. 2 - Floral pattern watercolour painting, 2024. Author. viiiFig. 3 - Ceinture Fléchée watercolour painting, 2024. Author. xFig. 4 - Fireback medicine pouch watercolour painting, 2024. Author. xivFig. 5 - Kitchen Table watercolour painting, 2024. Author. xviFig. 6 - Andre Nault’s Home, 1920 Archives of Manitoba, N19472.Shared with permission. 22Fig. 7 - Deer at St. James Anglican Church, December 2024.Photograph by author 24 Fig. 8 - Exterior of St. James Anglican Church, December 2024.Built in 1853. Author. Fig. 9 - Interior of St. James Anglican Church, May 2016. Built in 1853.Photograph by George Penner. Manitoba Historical Society Archives.Shared with permission. 25Fig. 10 - Stained glass window, St. James Anglican Church,December 2024. Author. 26Fig. 11 - St. James Anglican Church and Cemetery, June 1958.Photoby John Warkentin. John Warkentin Fonds,2009-029 003, ASC16563, York University. Manitoba Historical Society Archives.Shared with permission. 27Fig. 12 Ancestor Deer at St. James Anglican Church, December 2024.Photograph by author 28Fig. 13 - Clerk’s quarters and trading shop at Fort Victoria,c. 1890. Provincial Archives of Alberta B.2406 30Fig. 14- Historic Métis Cabin, Clerks House on River Lot 6 at Fort Victoria Settlement, 2022. Author. 31Fig. 15 - Dovetail joinery on Cromarty House Historic MétisCabin, River Lot 12 at Métis Crossing. 2022. Author. 32Fig. 16 - Stone Foundation detail, Cromarty House HistoricMétis Cabin, River Lot 12. Métis Crossing, 2022. Author. 33Fig. 17 - Tiffany Shaw harvesting prairie sage at bison enclosure, Métis Crossing, 2022. Author. 34Fig. 18 - Dovetail Joinery Detail, Sinclair House, River Lot 12 at MétisCrossing, 2022. Photo by author. 36Fig. 19 - Tools hanging on exterior of home, Métis Crossing, 2022 Photo by author.Fig. 20 - River Lot Garden, Métis Crossing, 2022. Photo by author. 37Fig. 21 - Ross House, December 2024 Photo by author. 38Fig. 22 - Ross House foundation detail, December 2024. Author. 40Fig. 23 - Historic (right) and Reconstruction (left) of Ross House,December 2024. Photo by author. 35Fig. 24 - Interior of Goulet House, built in 1870, Musée St. Pierre-Jolys, 2024.Photo by author. 42Fig. 25 - Exterior of Goulet House, built in 1870, Musée St. Pierre-Jolys, 2024.Photo by author. 4Fig. 26 - Interior view of silo. Built in 1943, tarred by Joseph Curé, May 2025. Photo by author. 44Fig. 27 - Raymond standing by Dandenault + Curé Silo, built in 1943. Photo by author.Fig. 28 - Curé Farm Silo. Built by Joseph Curé, 1935. De Salaberry Heritage Landmark 45Fig. 29 - John Warkentin Fonds F0184, “Manitoba Region 2,” York UniversityLibraries “Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits”.Shared with permission. 47Fig. 30 - Panel Bag, pg. 183 original by Gregory Scofield. Photo by author. 50Fig. 31 - Fort Garry in 1860. Winnipeg, 1885. University of Manitoba Archives andSpecial Collections. 51Fig. 32 - Tilde Ristin showing me the archive at MOA, November 2023.Photo by author. Referenced work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology.Fig. 33 - Silk embroidery detail, November 2023. Photo by author.Referenced work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology 52Fig. 34 - Beaded Métis Floral, Coastal Fish, Braid with sash silk on Jacket.Photo by author 2023 Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology . 53Fig. 35 - Front of Jacket with Métis Floral panels on black felt with leather fringe.Photo by author 2023. Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology. 55Fig. 36 - Kinship Table Beadwork Map by Robyn Adams. Photo by author 2025 56Fig. 37 - Folklore watercolour concept art, 2024. Painting by author. 61Fig. 38 - Watercolour Rougarou, 2024. Painting by author. 62Fig. 39 - Watercolour visualization of Dark ribs of the earth, 2024. Painting by author. 63Fig. 40 - Watercolour Mermaid, 2024. Painting by author. 64Fig. 41 - Watercolour visualization of Dark ribs of the earth, 2024. Painting by author. 65Fig. 42 - Watercolour Paahkuk, 2024. Painting by author. 66 Fig. 43 - Watercolour concept art for Paahkuk, 2025. Painting by author. 67Fig. 44 - Watercolour Thunderbird, 2024. Painting by author. 68Fig. 45 - Watercolour concept art for Thunderbird, 2025. Painting by author. 69Fig. 46 - Watercolour P’tit Jean, 2024. Painting by author. 70Fig. 47 - Watercolour concept art for P’tit Jean, 2025. Painting by author. 71Fig. 48 - Watercolour P’tit Jean, 2024. Painting by author. 72Fig. 49 - Watercolour concept art for Little People, 2025. Painting by author 73Fig. 50 - Fantasy Map, 2025. Illustration by author. 84Fig. 51 - Towering sky flowers in Southern Plains with P’tit Jean, 2025.Level design in UE5 by author. 86Fig. 52 - Sage in Eastern Wood with the Rougarou, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author. 88Fig.53 - Little People at base of tree in the Interlake, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author. 90Fig. 54 - Crosses and pews in the cave of the Rougarou, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 55 - Skulls as walls in Paahkuks subarctic tundra, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 56 - Chicken, and flowers in Southern Plains by P’tit Jean, 2025. Detail in UE5 by author. 92Fig. 57 Beach chairs and boat window for the Mermaid, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author Fig. 58 - Nest in the clouds on tree of life for Thunderbird, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 59 - Silverwear as roof beams for the Little People, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author. 93Fig. 60 - Beadwork in Kitchen Party, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author 94Fig. 61 - Kitchen Party with watercolour characters, 2025. Final level design in UE5 by author. 96Fig. 62 - Critic Ouri Scott in VR 2025. Photo by Narita Reyes Ico.Fig. 63 - Some books referenced, 2025. Photo by author.Fig. 64 - Graduate Project presentation at First Nation House of Learning, UBC Campus, 2025.Photo by Narita Reyes Ico. 98Fig. 65 - Critic Craig Duffield trying out VR, 2025. Photo by Narita Reyes Ico.Fig. 66 - Presentation booklet and map, 2025. Photo by author.Fig. 67 - Presentation Concept Art, 2025. Photo by author. 99xiv xvthesis statementKinship Table, la taab di li vwaazayn, situates worldbuilding as both a design methodology and a tool for architecture grounded in Michif knowledge. Through beadwork, poetry, and a folklore-inspired virtual reality video game, Kinship Table centers Indigenous knowledge, futurism, and relational narrative using fantasy not as an escape, but as a return: a way of designing with land, story, spirit, and kin.xvi xviikitchen table methodology “The kitchen table is the meeting place of our people, where we feel most at home, where we visit about the everyday ups and downs of life. Where our stories are shared."2 - Caroline TaitKitchen Table MethodologyThe Métis kitchen table is the centre of a home, the meeting place of our people. It connects the home to the community, family and the land through visiting, food preparation, hosting, storytelling, intergenerational teaching, beadwork, skill learning, Wahkootowin and relationships.Métis Kitchen Table methodology “is us being us, with Western formalities in the background, a necessary evil, that we hope will not interrupt the narrative flow of visiting.”3 - Around the Kitchen Table, Métis Aunties Scholarship This research was done through visiting, storytelling and dreaming. Over the past 4 years I’ve spent time with many Métis historic sites, archives, museums, workshops, gatherings and landscapes, while listening to their stories along the way.Visiting + Storytelling connected through these 3 site visits for me: Rat River Settlement, where I went to my relative Raymond Curés farm and researched a farm silo built by Joseph Curé. Métis Crossing, where I went with my mother, Myrna Adams, Vivian Manasc and Métis architect Tiffany Shaw for artist research along the North Saskatchewan River weaving both land-based contemporary and historic architecture knowledge. And finally, the Manitoba Archives where I went with the Mawachihitotaak: Métis Studies Symposium and saw the documents of my family’s land, land scrip and maps for the first time.Dreaming with Michif folklore characters, through children’s books, autobiographies, fiction, and poetry, I designed a 7-level virtual reality (vr) video game to bring these characters and teachings to life using Unreal Engine 5. Early on, character concept art and poetry was used as a worldbuilding tool, shaping everything from character design to the narrative, environment art and level design. Including the Michif language through prayer, fiddle music, and highlighting characteristics of folklore stories through my interpretation of their design teachings into level game design, creating an immersive space where cultural and environmental contexts are experienced interactively. This game reflects my research, bridging oral traditions and historic design with modern technologies, offering a dynamic platform for engaging with Indigenous knowledge, and bringing Michif culture to the forefront of architecture design.GRANDFATHERSTORIESSitting at the kitchen table, first we visit the grandfathers. Michif grandfathers have long shaped the built environment of the Homeland of the Métis Nation. Often as carpenters, loggers, and farmers, their hands and knowledge were foundational to Red River frame construction. Beyond their building skill, they carried a deep responsibility to community: traveling across the land to construct homesteads for Michif families, while also standing firm in the fight for land rights and recognition. Their work lives not only in dovetail joints and log walls, but in the ongoing presence and persistence of Michif place-making.22 23When researching historic Michif architecture, vernacular housing is most commonly recognized and described through regionalism, different joinery techniques, and settlement patterns. While this body of work, primarily built by Métis men, has focused on the domestic Métis home, similar joinery techniques were also used in the construction of community buildings, agricultural structures, and other everyday architectures. These buildings reflect not only Indigenous ways of being, and activity, but also specfically a tradition of inventive and resourceful design which is a quality deeply embedded in Michif architectural expression. This section highlights buildings used for community purposes from churches, to post offices, and stores. The three primary Red River frame joinery techniques referenced here are: pièce-sur-pièce (piece-on-piece), poteaux-sur-sole (post-on-sill), and queue d’aronde (dovetail).4Fig. 6 - Andre Nault’s Home, 1920Archives of Manitoba, N19472Shared with permission.This information has been provided bythe Manitoba Historical Society.Please visit their website at www.mhs.mb.ca.michif architecture across the métis homeland24 25Fig. 9 - Interior of St. James Anglican Church, May 2016. Built in 1853.Photograph by George Penner. Manitoba Historical Society Archives. Shared with permission.Fig. 8 - Exterior of St. James Anglican Church, December 2024. Built in 1853. Photo by author.St. James Anglican Church525 Tylehurst Street, Winnipeg, MBLocated on Treaty 1 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. Fig. 7 - Deer at St. James Anglican Church, December 2024. Photo by authorLocation Significance:Along Assiniboine River, close to river lots and trade routes.Joinery Technique:Poteaux-sur-sole (post-in-sil)Year Built:1883Notes:Oldest wooden church still in use in Western Canada, Gothic Revival influence with Red River Framing26 27Fig. 10 - Stained glass window, St. James Anglican Church, December 2024. Photo by author.St. James Anglican Church is an example of poteaux-sur-sole (post-on-sill) construction, in which horizontal squared logs are slotted into grooves between upright squared posts. Built near a First Nations burial site along the Assiniboine River, the church sits within a river lot system—long, narrow plots that granted each family access to the river at one end, and drier, more stable land for building at the other. These river lots supported subsistence, movement, and kinship-based land use. Its location reflects common Métis settlement patterns: proximity to family homesteads, access to water transportation, and adjacency to both land and river trade routes. Early Métis communities were shaped through close relationships Fig. 11 - St. James Anglican Church and Cemetery, June 1958. Photo by John Warkentin.John Warkentin Fonds, 2009-029 003, ASC16563, York University.Manitoba Historical Society Archives. Shared with permission.with First Nations people, and these alliances which were often rooted in kinship and marriage, formed the foundation of the Métis Nation. While colonialism brought immense disruption and violence, the early years of Métis settlements, particularly in relation to French fur trader alliances, were marked by cohabitation, partnerships, marriages, and shared cultural life. The church’s cross-gabled roof and pointed stained glass windows reflect English Gothic Revival architecture. Yet the modest wood form, poteaux-sur-sole joinery, and locally sourced materials produce a hybrid that is distinctly Red River Métis. This synthesis is rooted in spiritual, social, and environmental relationships. Archival photographs of the non-painted exterior logs and carefully crafted interior highlight the innovation, adaptability, and everyday purposes of Métis builders.“...after a successful hunt and safe return, the half-breeds gather to the cathedral in all their fanciful variety of dress, their brilliant sashes, and blue or white capots; the dress of the women, too, not less brilliantly catching the eye, there is a sense of harmony gratifies by this likeness and general prevalence of striking colors, which would never be elicited by the same throngs in a country meeting-house in New England.” - Manton Marble, 18605Fig. 12 on following page - Ancestor Deer at St. James Anglican Church, December 2024.Photograph by author28 2930 31Fort VictoriaSmoky Lake, AlbertaLocated on Treaty 6 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, and Nakota Sioux. Home to historic Métis Settlements and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Regions 1, 2 and 4 within the Homeland of the Métis Nation. Location Significance:Built on trade routes at North Saskatchewan River, and Old Victoria Trail on River lot 6 of Victoria Settlement which connects Winnipeg to Edmonton.Joinery Technique:Poteaux-sur-sole (post-in-sil) and pièce-sur-pièce (piece-on-piece)Year Built:1864-65Notes:Last remaining structure from Fort Victoria.6 English speaking settlement. Near many Cree communities historically. Lime Coating on exterior.Fig. 13 - Clerk’s quarters and trading shop at Fort Victoria, c. 1890Provincial Archives of Alberta B.2406In Manitoba, historic Métis homes often feature a lean-to addition attached to the exterior, typically serving as a kitchen extension set near cooler temperatures and further from the interior wood stove. In Alberta, at the Clerk’s House, this appears in the Fig. 14 - Historic Métis Cabin, Clerks House on River Lot 6 at Fort Victoria Settlement, 2022. Photo by author.form of a lean-to completed in 1865 using the pièce-sur-pièce (piece-on-piece) method, while the original structure is built with poteaux-sur-sole (post-on-sill) joinery. The builders of this home and store likely came from Red River, bringing with them construction knowledge and techniques from Manitoba. The use of multiple framing methods suggests the house was built collaboratively over time, reflecting the evolving knowledge and ingenuity of Michif builders. These layered techniques do not conform to a singular architectural aesthetic but instead express what some scholars have described as a “crooked” approach, a term reclaimed to honour Métis nonlinear, adaptive, and relational ways of being. In this way, the house embodies not only technical experimentation, but also a broader cultural ethos rooted in flexibility, kinship, and land-based skill.32 33Fig. 15 - Dovetail joinery on Cromarty House Historic Métis Cabin, River Lot 12 at Métis Crossing. 2022 Photo by author.Métis CrossingPakan, AlbertaLocated on Treaty 6 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, and Nakota Sioux. Home to historic Métis Settlements and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Regions 1, 2 and 4 within the Homeland of the Métis Nation. Location Significance:Along North Saskatchewan River, and Red River Cart Trail (Old Victoria Trail). Métis Crossing is 670 acres on 5 historic river lots.Joinery Technique:Queue d’aronde (Dovetail)Year Built:Cromarty House - 1870Sinclair House - likely just after 1870 Notes:Lime coating on Sinclair house, stone foundation, Fig. 16 - Stone Foundation detail, Cromarty House Historic Métis Cabin, River Lot 12. Métis Crossing, 2022 Photo by author.Situated along the North Saskatchewan River, where cooler temperatures near the water meet a hilly landscape, these two Red River framed houses were brought onto the site from nearby. The arrangement of these homes echoes the historical use of river lot systems, where land was carefully allocated to balance access to the river with stable, drier ground for building. Although this architecture is that of typical Métis homes in 1870’s, I wanted to include them in my research because of their connection to the surrounding landscape and culture.Fig. 17 on following page - Tiffany Shaw harvesting prairie sage at bison enclosure, Métis Crossing, 2022. Photo by author.34 3536 37Fig. 18 - Dovetail Joinery Detail, Sinclair House, River Lot 12 at Métis Crossing, 2022. Photo by author.Michif people, known as "root vegetable people," have long cultivated the land for crops like potatoes, turnips, and carrots. In addition to the homes, contemporary river lot gardens still mimic these historic practices, reflecting a continued relationship to the land and Michif farming knowledge. These gardens also represent the ongoing adaptation and cultural resilience of Michif people, continuing a legacy of sustainable and community-driven design.Many Red River Métis from Manitoba followed the Carlton Trail from south of Winnipeg to Fort Victoria, where the last stretch of the trail was called the Old Victoria Trail, and brought these techniques to the Fort Victoria Settlement. Fig. 19 - Tools hanging on exterior of home, Métis Crossing, 2022 Photo by author.Fig. 20 - River Lot Garden, Métis Crossing, 2022 Photo by author.Along the way, they also brought the river lot system to the North Saskatchewan River in the late 1800s. This migration pattern, along with the river lot system, showcases how Métis settlers adapted to their environment, developing sustainable living and trade routes. This historical context of migration coexists with the development of Red River Frame joinery techniques. These techniques, like dovetail joinery, evolved and became markers of Métis ingenuity and adaptability.38 39Ross House, Post OfficeWinnipeg, ManitobaLocated on Treaty 1 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. Location Significance:Built near the Red and Assiniboine RiversJoinery Technique:Poteaux-sur-sole (Post-in-sil)Year Built:1851Notes:First post office in Western Canada.Made from large oak logs. Built by Hugh MathesonFig. 21 - Ross House, December 2024 Photo by author.Fig. 22 - Ross House foundation detail, December 2024 Photo by author.Ross House, now a museum, was originally built in 1851 and served as the first post office in what is now Western Canada. While I initially assumed the building was constructed for Alexander Ross, a settler fur trader known for his racist depictions of Indigenous people in his writings, it was actually named after his Métis son, William Ross, who lived there with his Métis wife, Jemima McKenzie Ross, and operated the post office. William was Métis through his mother, Salis Timentwa, a Sylix woman from the Okanagan region, who was renamed Sarah Ross after her baptism and marriage to Alexander.7 I highlight this building not only as an example of early Red River architecture, but also because it represents a public building created and maintained by a Michif family. As a post office, Ross House played a crucial role in communication and connection across the Red River Settlement and beyond. It is a reminder that Métis architecture included not just homes, but also essential community infrastructure, spaces where public life unfolded.At the same time, Ross House carries a more difficult history. Through research and the work of the Ross House Museum, I learned that Salis’s story reflects the violence of early colonial relationships. She was likely forced into marriage at the age of 14 and taken to Red River against her will. Although the fur trade sometimes fostered partnerships between Indigenous and settler communities, many First Nations women were coerced into marriage and Catholicism, and their identities were erased in the historical record. Salis, for instance, is never named in Alexander Ross’s writings where he refers to her only as “Sally.” Her story is essential to understanding the layered and often painful realities behind early Métis settlements. Ross House stands as both a site of Métis civic life and a reminder of the Indigenous women whose lives and labor made such places possible, yet who were rarely credited or named.Fig. 23 on following page - Historic (right) and Reconstruction (left) of Ross House, December 2024. Photo by author.40 4142 43Fig. 25 - Exterior of Goulet House, built in 1870, Musée St. Pierre-Jolys. 2024Photo by author.Trail, which once connected Red River to Fort Victoria Settlement in Northern Alberta (highlighted above), and Minneapolis in the south. The architecture of the Goulet House expresses the layered identities of French-speaking Métis communities. It features poteaux-sur-sole (post-on-sill) horizontal log construction, Fig. 24 - Interior of Goulet House, built in 1870, Musée St. Pierre-Jolys. 2024 Photo by author.Goulet HouseSt. Pierre-Jolys, ManitobaLocated on Treaty 1 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. Location Significance:Built along Red River Cart Trail, located between boreal forest and sandilands.Joinery Technique:Poteaux sur sole (Post-in-sil)Year Built:1870Notes:My relatives built this!Very franco-Manitoban, with a gambrel roof and flared eaves.8 The Goulet House, built in 1870 by my relative Moise Goulet, holds personal and historical significance. Located in what was once the Rat River Settlement, now known as St. Pierre-Jolys, was a Cree-Métis community where my ancestor Thomas Bruneau held land and scrip records from 1832. The house sits at the beginning of the Crow Wing Trail, also called the Carlton sheathed in vertical board-and-batten siding with a gambrel roof and flared eaves, a combination unique to this Franco-Manitoban communities. This blending of form and technique speaks to the creativity and cultural hybridity at the heart of Michif architecture. 44 45Rat River SettlementCuré Farm SiloLocated on Treaty 1 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. Early in my research, alongside my own personal research into my fmaily and Métis land rights, I came across this silo from 1945, which I learnt is still standing and owned by my family. Back when it was built my ancestor Jospeh Curé helped built this, and tarred it. Both the Rat River Silos showcase Red River Frame joinery techniques alongside fantastical expressions of the Michif everyday.9 Once Michif builders learned these methods for constructing log homes, they applied them across building types; from churches to farm structures like these silos. This silo was used for Fig. 26 - Interior view of silo. Built in 1943, tarred by Joseph Curé, May 2025. Photo by author.Location Significance:Located on the cusp of boreal forest and sandilands on private farm land.Joinery Technique:pièce-sur-pièce (piece-on-piece)Year Built:1935Notes:Built by my relative Joseph Curé, and Hector Dandeneault, and still owned by my relative Raymond Curé who still runs a dairy farm.Fig. 27 - Raymond standing by Dandenault + Curé Silo, built in 1943. Photo by author.storing fermented corn silage, the silos required tight-fitting joints to keep it protected, making the precision of the joinery essential.10 To me, these structures speak to the playfulness and strength of Métis builders, how a seemingly simple technique was adapted to meet large-scale, functional Fig. 28 - Curé Farm Silo. Built by Joseph Curé, 1935. De Salaberry Heritage Landmarkand communal needs. There’s something powerful about how these Michif men worked with what they had, from local materials to equiptment and knowledge, blending creativity with hard labour, shaping not only homes but entire working landscapes. 46 47I came across a photograph taken in April 1958 by John Warkentin featuring a Red River framed church. Although the exact identity of the church is unknown, it was likely built in the late 1800s or early 1900s, based on the use of both poteaux-sur-sole (post-on-sill) construction at the front and dovetail joinery at the back. The angled rear wall of the church, crafted from shorter hewn logs using dovetail joints, was likely designed to create a dramatic altar space inside. This combination of structural precision and expressive design reflects the resourcefulness of Red River Métis builders, who adapted joinery techniques not just for practical needs, but to enhance the spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of their buildings.Unknown Log ChurchElma ManitobaLocated in Elma, Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory — the traditional and ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. Location Significance:Not much known, Manitoba Region 2.11Joinery Technique:Queue d’aronde (Dovetail)Poteaux sur sole (Post-in-sil)Year Built:unknownNotes:Multiple joinery techniques, angled facade wall for alter.Fig. 29 - John Warkentin Fonds F0184, “Manitoba Region 2,” York University Libraries “Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits”. Shared with permission.GRANDMOTHERSTORIESTea is steeping, bannock is frying, and the kitchen table is full with family, talking, teaching, and a spool of thread for beading. Michif women have long gathered around the kitchen table, turning it into a place for stitching, cooking, and sharing stories. This chapter begins there, in that warm and used practical space. While much has been written about fur traders, log builders, and surveyors, the contributions of Michif women in design have been historically overlooked. Beadwork, often labeled with “artist unknown” in archives, holds a wealth of knowledge passed down through generations. We call these “grandmother pieces.” This section reflects on their beauty and brilliance,and on the silences they resist. Simillar to architecture, beadwork carries more than decorative pattern; it carries land-based knowledge, familial teachings, spirit, regional styles, and material relationships.50 51tracing michif stories through beadworkFig. 30 - Panel Bag, pg. 183 original by Gregory Scofield. Photo by author.In 2023, Gregory Scofield published Kôhkominawak Ocihcîwâwa – Our Grandmothers’ Hands: Repatriating Métis Material Art, a book that opens access to sacred objects and cultural memory for those long distanced from them. Among the pieces he documents is a striking beaded panel bag made between 1860 and 1880, likely sold through the Hudson’s Bay Company.While the floral beadwork is distinctly Red River Métis, what stands out most is the Fig. 31 - Fort Garry in 1860. Winnipeg, 1885. University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collectionsloom-beaded panel attached to the base. This portion of the bag resembles a site plan, “lower-loomed panel could be read as a pictorial narrative with Christian symbols such as churches, crosses, and a cemetery in the centre.”12The pattern echoes a fort seen in archival sketches of settlements like Fort Garry around 1860, where community, trade, and spirituality were organized around a fortified gathering of the same kind of structures seen in the pictoral narrative, 52 53homes, churches, and graveyards. In this way, the bag becomes more than ornament, it is a spatial memory, mapping how people once lived together in this settlement typology. Panel bags like this one with a rectangular shape and a curved top flap and loom-woven base, draw from multiple traditions: U-shaped silhouettes from northern Algonquin styles and rectilinear forms from Great Lakes and Eastern Woodlands designs. The Métis made their own forms of these bags through a vibrant synthesis.Hunting bags often feature red, which is a reference to older traditions of painting hides to honour the blood of the animal that offered itself. These bags were worn over wool coats, used to carry essentials like tobacco, medicinal plants, flint, and family records. In that sense, they were not only carriers, but also archives. Designed objects embedded with memory, care, and story.13In this final piece of beadwork, I was taken on a tour by Tilde Fig. 34 - Beaded Métis Floral, Coastal Fish, Braid with sash silk on Jacket.Photo by author 2023 Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of AnthropologyFig. 32 - Tilde Ristin showing me the archive at MOA, November 2023. Photo by author. Referenced Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of AnthropologyFig. 33 - Silk embroidery detail, November 2023. Photo by author. Referenced Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology54 55Ristin, a Sámi duojár (handicraft artist) and conservationist working at the Museum of Anthropology. As we moved through the archives, one jacket in particular stood out. While there was little documentation about it, the garment spoke volumes through its construction. It was made using a patchwork of embroidery, weaving, and beadwork styles. All a layering of materials and techniques that revealed many hands, relationships, and communities. At the bottom, a silk embroidery patch with flowers stitched near the hem. The waist features geometric rectangular panels in blue, white, and red, while the elbows bear fish-like forms reminiscent of Coast Salish fish and heavy line work in their beading. A black felt patch on the shoulders holds a Métis rose, with leaves and white mouse tracks for stems amongst a collection of many florals. On the front of the jacket, a much larger black felt vibrant panel with florals and light blue mouse tracks. The change in mouse track colours could highlight different artists even within the Métis beaded patches.Most compelling to me of all these different elements is a braid made of silk thread and human hair that is attached at each shoulder of the jacket. It lays on the archive countertop weaving the Métis sash with the strength of human hair and a braid, imbuing the garment with spiritual strength, marking it as a keeper of memory, kinship, power and story. The jacket becomes an extension of the Michif spirit, a living archive. This piece, like much of Indigenous beadwork; maps relationships across nations, through trade, across time and dimension. It holds spirit. It reminds me that beadwork is evidence of touch, care, and continuity. An heirloom, an archive, and a map, all at once.Fig. 35 - Front of Jacket with Métis Floral panels on black felt with leather fringe.Photo by author 2023. Work in photo: Jacket, 1057, Museum of Anthropology56 57Here, I use beading to explore relationships between land, folklore, and story. You’ll often see growth shown in sequence in Métis work, from seed to bud to flower to berry or fruit. Seasonality is also expressed through rain drops and platinum beads. The white, brown or green stems are mouse tracks in the snow and tie each element together. Materials in beadwork have histories tied to people and place. Glass seed beads were traded or gifted across large networks globally and locally. Hides are harvested and hand-worked—soaked, softened, brain-tanned, and smoked. Animal tendons are turned into sinew for sewing thread. Each piece is a story of relationships: to animals, water, trade, land. Often ontop of leather, a layer of black velvet is added. Here, vintage black French velvet is used, echoing the texture and colour of many grandmother pieces. Through this work, beadwork maps relationships, it lives in the materials, the memories, and the teachings sewn into every stitch.Each flower represents a native plant found across Manitoba’s geography that relates to a character’s world. Starting at the bottom left, the wolf willow’s flower and seed is used to represent the Rougarou. It’s seeds are used in rosaries and beadwork. To the right I beaded wild rice, a plant grown in lakes across Manitoba with the Mermaids. A prairie crocus that blooms with snow for Paahkuk. Blueberries grow well after lightening strikes, perhaps from Thunderbird. In the tall grass prairie, the yellow cone flower floods Ptit Jean’s world. Tiny purple asters tower the Little People along the river leading along the mouse tracks to the final flower which is a combination of petals representing each character seated at the Kitchen Table.Beadwork as CartographyFig. 36 - Kinship Table Beadwork Map by Robyn Adams. Photo by author 2025PCHI TAANFAANCHILDRENThe elders and children come together through stories, teachings, and imagination. These stories are integral to carrying Michif architecture forward. When thinking about futurism and Michif futures, it’s not about abandoning the past but reconnecting to ceremony, to traditional hand-made practices, and to the richness of our cultural stories. These are the practices that guide us forward.60 61children book teachings and folklore analysisFig. 37 - Folklore watercolour concept art, 2024. Author.62 63Fig. 39 - Watercolour visualization of Dark ribs of the earth, 2024. Painting by author.World:Eastern WoodsSetting:ForestCharacteristics:Shapeshifts into a black dog, or horse, yellow eyes, evilEnvironment Characteristics:Dark, moody, religious settings sometimes, kinship and community is central!Notes:When injured in dog form, human form is also hurt. The Rougarou is the devil, but also a relative.rougarouTeaching:Monster and relative, hurting someone has lasting effects and implications.Design Value:Our actions have impact, no action is isolated. If one roof tile fails, the whole house is flooded.The most recognizable Michif folklore character is the Rougarou. A werewolf-like figure that often takes the form of a black dog or horse. He is from the dark ribs of the earth.14Warren Cariou’s talk titled "Bandits, Relatives and Roogaroos: Joe Welsh’s Halfbreed Kin Poetics" at Mawachihitotaak, about how Métis kinship and community is central to the stories of the Rougarou, is pivotal in my research."The Rougarou’s are our relatives no matter how much harm they cause us".15 - Warren CariouThe Rougarou likes the night, shifting into a black dog with yellow eyes. The Rougarou’s story is often told to get kids to pray regularly. If you don’t, a devil will come to live in your home in the form of a Rougarou. However, "when kindness is shown to the Rougarou, it always wins". 16Fig. 38 - Watercolour Rougarou, 2024. Painting by author.64 65mermaidsWorld:Western LakeSetting:Freshwater lakesCharacteristics:Often women, spiritual representations of women. Warning.Environment Characteristics:Deep fresh water in the middle of large lakes.Notes:Spiritual beings connected to water. Also called Nibinabe.Teaching:She is the spirit of water, and a warning that will haunt you until death. We are made of over 75% water, so we carry the mermaid with us always.Design Value:Design for water. When we pollute, frack, or over harvest fish we inviting death. Violence on the water, is violence on our bodies.Mermaids in Michif folklore are freshwater inhabitants. They are really connected to the spirit of water, and can reflect our relationship to water.The teachings around the Mermaid are if you are out fishing and you catch one, make sure you don’t touch her or else you will have to kill her, because she’ll come after you your whole life and drag you down to the bottom of the lake to live with her forever.17 They are said to be frightened by loud noises, and seeing one could be a warning sign.Fig. 41 - Watercolour visualization of Dark ribs of the earth, 2024. Painting by author.Fig. 40 - Watercolour Mermaid, 2024. Painting by author.66 67Paahkuk lives in the deep winter and has the power of snow. Paahkuk is associated with death, starvation, illness and cannibalism. In rural communities, when a community was experiencing famine because of game cycles in hunting and harvesting seasons they were at risk to feed on human flesh, if they did they would become Paahkuk. If he touches you, and eats you too you’ll also become a cannibal spirit.18In the story "Whistle For Protection" by Jeanne Pelletier, a boy throws a rock at a grave and gets haunted by its spirit. The next day, the boy visits a priest to get help, and he learns to bring a new born with him to the grave and ask forgiveness. He goes with a newborn to the grave and is told that without the baby the old man would have done the same thing to the boy that he did to him at the grave.19The second half of the story focuses on a mother protecting her daughter from the loud whistle of a hungry Paahkuk, only for the daughter to have been touched, eaten and transformed into a cannibal spirit herself.paahkukWorld:Subarctic TundraSetting:Night sky, deep WinterCharacteristics:Hungry, cannibal spirits that appear like boney skeletons and can fly, and makes a loud screechy whistle sound. Was once human but committed cannibalism.Environment Characteristics:Night time, likes the cold deep winter, calm or windy nights.Notes:You can be saved from Paahkuk if you have a pure child close to you. Also referred to as Pakakosh or Whiitigo.Teaching:When harvest fails, and hunger sets in, the ultimate test of character comes out. There are moments of forgiveness but sticking to values is important. Will you eat people and become a cannibal like Paahkuk?Design Value:Don’t cut corners, exploit land, erase culture, sacrifice safety or accessibility for money, speed or power. Fig. 43 - Watercolour concept art for Paahkuk, 2025. Painting by author.Fig. 42 - Watercolour Paahkuk, 2024. Painting by author.68 69thunderbirdWorld:Northern Boreal ForestSetting:Sky and earth.Characteristics:Can fly, has the power of storms and thunder. Connected to earth and creation. Represents strength.Environment Characteristics:Stormy, lightening and flashes of light. Flies high above everything else.Notes:I see a relationship between Sky Woman and Thunderbird based on Daphne Ojig painting thunderbird woman. Half-woman, half-bird, however this is my interpretation.Teaching:Thunderbird represents strength, and has the power of storms. She reminds me of being outside in the elements.Design Value:Designing with and for nature is a sacred practice, there’s strength in climate sensitive design.Thunderbird’s nest is at the top of the tree of life and she occupies the sky. She can command storms, thunder and lightning.20 Thunderbird is a large bird and makes the sound for thunder by clapping her wings to form storm clouds. She represents strength.Fig. 45 - Watercolour concept art for Thunderbird, 2025. Painting by author.Fig. 44 - Watercolour Thunderbird, 2024. Painting by author.70 71P’tit Jean is the hero of many French-Canadian and Michif folk tales. With trickster roots in First Nations teachings.21In the story "Chi-Jean and the Red Willows", he has many names and also goes by nanabush, wiisakaychak or chakapesh the trickster. He is smart but beats himself down.22In his story, he dances with prairie 8 chickens and tricks them into closing their eyes so he can harvest, cook and eat them. He accidently falls p’tit jeanWorld:Southern PlainsSetting:EarthCharacteristics:Trickster, can change his face, his body, his voice, and language. Smart, charming, and a bit stupid when alone.EnvironmentCharacteristics:Can change how things look, like the red willow bark.Notes:Helped to create earth.Teaching:P’tit Jean shows us the importance of land-based knowledge and skill. Like hunting, and crafting tools. But it must be practices with humility, and shared.Design Value:Knowledge + ability is only good when used in service of others. Importance for traditional ecological knowledge.asleep with the fire going, and he wakes up in the morning having burnt the chickens crisp, so to pay his bum back for not waking him up on time he sits on a burning rock, gets burnt, and the scabs blood oozes onto some willow trees turning them bright red. This is how we have Red Willows. Fig. 47 - Watercolour concept art for P’tit Jean, 2025. Painting by author.Fig. 46 - Watercolour P’tit Jean, 2024. Painting by author.72 73little people World:InterlakeSetting:RiverbedsCharacteristics:Very tiny human people, wear robes and purple colours, joyful.EnvironmentCharacteristics:Along riverbeds, the Little People like sandy and rocky areas.Notes:They like shiny and sweet things.Teaching:The little people are sneaky and resourseful. They remind us to look for the hidden stories. There’s an entire world in each detail.Design Values:Design resourcefully, retrofits and reuse.Detailing can be cultural storywork.The Little People occupy the in-between location of the river and the sandilands. They like to live under rocks, and live along riverbanks, the sand hills by large lakes and in caves.23 They like shiny objects and travelling by leaf boats.Maria Campbell talks about the Little People in her book, "halfbreed". She says, "they travel by leaf boats. They are a happy lot and also very shy…they are so tiny that unless you are really looking for them you will never find them".24 Maria also writes that as a child her Cheechum saw them on the leaves in robes of beautiful colours. Fig. 49 - Watercolour concept art for Little People, 2025. Painting by author.Fig. 48 - Watercolour P’tit Jean, 2024. Painting by author.74 751. rougarou2. mermaid3. paahkuk4. thunderbird5. p’tit jean6. little peoplepoetryDuring my process of worldbuildng, poetry became integral to shaping space. I have been deeply inspired many poems but specifically the work of poets like Billy-Ray Belcourt, Layli Longsoldier, Audre Lorde, and Katherena Vermette who have an ability to create an entire world through one poem. I engage in a process of art making research, where painting watercolour, and writing poetry weaves with researching joinery techniques, beadwork and folklore. Often these poems became process for me, helping me envision the characters, sometimes from the perspective of a fish being filletted by Paahkuk, or being the fisherman floating in love and captured.76 77in the forest a little light flickers,i follow it.another glows against the profile of layers of trees,as I shift my gaze to the woods darken-ing with the setting sun.hundreds of fireflies glisten across the forest floor. they appear at my feet, glowing against foot prints in front of me.as I walk forward, following them a second set of tracks is revealed,animal like.three souls are sucked together 1. the star - inside you, up.closed eyes and full breath 2. the water - so low, below the undercurrent of the bottom3. youyou floatbetween the pull of the dark depth of a lake, and the night constellations, foreverimbuing you towards their light78 79lying awake in extenuating pain, i felt everything.carved into my bone - sharp teethnails of ice.peeling off skin scraping off fleshsinking intomeat, rawand full of energy.circling through the leaves that sway in the wind of your wings.a breath forms a cloud, and pulls the river inside you.your wings are stronger than the branches you nest on, the thunder louder and louder as you - spiral into a wave and crash into the tallest tree you can find. 80 81today, you find home, even though you haven’t left. the flowers still shine for the sun, and your long days outside are stretch into the endless prairie grasses.tiny hands and silver thingsmemories and happy singsKINSHIP TABLE VIDEO GAMEKinship table is the centre of a home, where stories are told from grandfathers, grandmothers, and children alike. What does the kitchen table look like in your neighbourhood, who are the characters invited? This video game explores a fantasy world centered on the folklore characters, weaving teachings from my research and culture into game design. I designed a 7-level VR game where beaded flowers, watercolour concept art, and glitch aesthetics offer a different kind of realism that is grounded in relationship and story, not digital realism. The game invites players to sit with beings who carry lessons, memories, and cultural responsibilities, to reflect on how knowledge is shared around tables. Combining the language of video game design and stories, with architectural thinking, this project offers that storytelling and worldbuilding are not separate from architecture but embedded within it. The game becomes a living practice, demonstrating how folklore and a cultural landscape can guide the creation of meaningful, responsive worlds. la taabdi li vwaazaynEastern WoodWestern LakeSubarctic TundraNorthern Boreal ForestSouthern PlainsInterlakeFig. 50 - Fantasy Map, 2025. Illustration by author.86 87In architecture, consultation is often treated as a one-time checklist before the technical design begins. But community doesn’t work like that. Community centered design needs to be alive for the entirety of a project, as it moves through stories, relationships, and time. Kinship Table uses game design as a metaphor for a slower, deeper process of listening. The player’s goal is walk around the fantasy world to visit each neighbour, different Michif folklore characters from different environments, and invite them to a kitchen party. Each character brings something unique to share: a dish from their level, a song, a teaching. Only with everyone’s contribution is it truly a party. It’s not about efficiency or hierarchy, it’s about gathering, reciprocity, and presence. The kitchen table becomes the design table, reminding us that meaningful design, like a good kitchen party, requires many voices, and enough time to get to know them.Fig. 51 - Towering sky flowers in Southern Plains with P’tit Jean, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.88 89Li Boon Jeu, Not Kreatoer.Marsii d-itwaanaan por l’eer, la teer, pi diloo.Marsii d-itwaanaan por tot lii z’animaal, lii z’weezoo, pi lii pwesoon.Marsii d-itwaanaan por kahkiyaw li moond oota.Wiichihinaan chi-aachimoyaahk kwayesh.Wiichihinaan kwayesh chi-pimohteeyahk.Wiichihinaan kwayesh chi-pimaatishiyaahk.Kiihtwaam marsii d-itwaanaan por kahkiyaw keekwee.Eekoshi.A Michif prayer translated and read by Julien Tétrault for the audio in the Rougarou level. Fig. 52 - Sage in the Eastern Wood with the Rougarou, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Our Lord, our Creator.Thank you for the air, the land, and the water.Thank you for all the animals, birds, and fish.Thank you for all the people in this world.Help us to tell things as they are in a right and good way. Help us to walk in a good way.Help us to live in a good way .Thank you lord for everything, Amen.90 91Fantasy is a tool for survival. It is not an escape from the world, but a way to dream it otherwise. In Kinship Table, fantasy allows for the presence of beings who exist outside linear time, like spirits, tricksters, and ancestors, to occupy our everyday. These presences interrupt colonial expectations of realism. Rather than seeking hyper-realistic graphics or physics, the game embraces a visual language of beadwork, watercolour, and soft glitches which are reminders that this world is made, stitched, and imagined. The speculative space of the game becomes a place for dreaming alternative futures, where kinship is extended beyond the human, and where design is accountable to those dreams. Fantasy, here, is not decorative, it’s a framework for Indigenous futurity.Fig.53 - Little People at base of tree in the Interlake, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.92 93Fig. 54 - Crosses and pews in the cave of the Rougarou, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 55 - Skulls as walls in Paahkuks subarctic tundra, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 56 - Chicken, and flowers in Southern Plains by P’tit Jean, 2025. Detail in UE5 by author.Fig. 57 Beach chairs and boat window for the Mermaid, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 59 - Silverwear as roof beams for the Little People, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 58 - Nest in the clouds on tree of life for Thunderbird, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.Fig. 60 on following page - Beadwork in Kitchen Party, 2025. Level design in UE5 by author.94 9596 97kitchen partyThe Kinship Table is the centre of a home, the meeting place of our people. Connecting the home to the community, neighbours, relatives, and the land through eating, hosting, storytelling, partying, intergenerational teaching, beading and sewing, and visiting with kin.A future for the whole neighbourhood, the monsters and mermaids alike.Fig. 61 - Kitchen Party with watercolour characters, 2025. Final level design in UE5 by author.An audio plays with the Red River Jig on fiddle by Brent Peekeekoot.98 99Fig. 62 - Critic Ouri Scott trying VR 2025. Photo by Narita Reyes Ico. Fig. 63 - Some books referenced, 2025. Photo by author.Fig. 64 - Graduate Project presentation at First Nation House of Learning, UBC Campus, 2025. Photo by Narita Reyes Ico.Fig. 65 - Critic Craig Duffield trying out VR, 2025. Photo by Narita Reyes Ico.Fig. 67 - Presentation Concept Art, 2025. Photo by author.Fig. 66 - Presentation booklet and map, 2025. Photo by author.Maarsii, and thank-you for reading this work. It is my heartwork that I have poured so much love and care into.Photographs from my Graduate Project final review with 7 critics and guests the morning of April 24th, 2025. My review was located at the First Nation House of Learning in the Sty-Wet-Tan hall, a home away from home.Please visit my website for more information and a video highlighting Kinship Table, www.robynadams.caANAN ARYAYREND MATTERcii ciiibibliographyMichif FolkloreBarkwell, Lawrence. “Métis Mythology and Folklore: Mythological Figures.”Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion, Audreen Hourie, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Metis Legacy (Volume Ii): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2006. Burton, Wilfred, Leah Dorion, Norman Fleury, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Roogaroo Mickey. 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Saskatoon, SK: Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2015Welsh, Joe. Jackrabbit Street. Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2003. Indigenous HandicraftsDuodji Reader. Translated by Kaija Anttonen. Twelve Essays on Duodji by Sámi Writers. Edited by Gunvor Guttorm Harald Gaski. Davvi Girji, 2022.Scofield, Gregory. Kôhkominawak Ocihcîwâwa – Our Grandmothers’ Hands: Repatriating Métis Material Art. Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2023.Racette, Sherry Farrell. Radical Stitch. Ottawa, ON: National Gallery of Canada, 2024. https://go.exlibris.link/7RpwZVjL.Troupe, Cheryl, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Expressing Our Heritage: Resource Manual / Métis Artistic Designs. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2002. https://go.exlibris.link/CvV9NZgp.civ cvIndigenous Futurism + WorldbuildingBelcourt, Billy-Ray. "Coexistence: stories", 2024Escobar, Arturo. Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. 1 ed. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018. doi:10.1515/9780822371816. Fortin, David Terrance. Architecture and Science-Fiction Film: Philip K. Dick and the Spectacle of Home. 1 ed. Farnham;Burlington, VT;: Ashgate Pub, 2011. doi:10.4324/9781315262246. Kim, Joshua Minsoo. “An Impossible Being. Rhayne Vermette Discusses Ste. Anne.” In Exovede in the Darkroom, the Films of Rhayne Vermette, edited by Stephen Broomer & Irene Bindi. Winnipeg, Manitoba: ARP.Short, Jessie. “The Creative Film Practices of Amanda Strong and Rhayne Vermette: Proposing a Theoretical Framework for Considering Métis Film.” Pawaatamihk: Journal of Métis Thinkers 1, no. 1 (09/29 2023): 97-109. https://doi.org/10.36939/pawaatamihk/vol1no1/art11.simpson, jaye. "Land Back Means Protecting Black and Indigenous Trans Women." Briarpatch, September 10, 2020. https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/land-back-means-protecting-black-and-indigenous-trans-womenSimpson, Leanne Betasamosake. Theory of Water : Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead. Knopf Canada, 2025. https://go.exlibris.link/MYmdsjhG.Whyte, Kyle P. “Indigenous Science (Fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral Dystopias and Fantasies of Climate Change Crises.” 2018.Vowel, Chelsea, and Collection Xwi7xwa. "Buffalo Is the New Buffalo: Stories. Vancouver." Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022. https://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=12170405Michif ArchitectureAdams, Robyn. "In the Forest after I." In Ruovttu Guvlui / Towards Home: Inuit and Sámi Placemaking, edited by Taqralik Partridge Joar Nango, Jocelyn Piirainen, and Rafico Ruiz, 2024.Adams, Robyn. "Métis Futures through Architecture and a Cultural Landscape." OBL/QUE No. 5 / LAND (UNCEDED) (December 2024 2024).Bailey, Shawn, Honoure Black, and Lancelot Coar. “Decolonizing the Design Process with Five Indigenous Land-Based Paradigms.”67, no. 3. 2022, 55-61. https://go.exlibris.link/c88SYQlG.Joar Nango, Taqralik Partridge, Jocelyn Piirainen, Asinnajaq, Carola Grahn, Geronimo Inutiq, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Nicole Luke, and Tiffany Shaw. “A Guide Towards Home.” Canadian Centre of Architecture, 2022.Manitoba, Heritage. “Significant Heritage Buildings of De Salaberry and St. Pierre.” In LANDMARKS, 2023-11-01.Saint-Pierre-Joly Manitoba, "Au Fils Du Temps ... Comité du livre de Saint-Pierre-Joly ed." Friesens Corporation, 2005.Surkan, David T. Fortin & Jason. “Towards an Architecture of Métis Resistance.” The Site Magazine.Indigenous Methodology and Michif Women ScholarshipBouvier, Rita. "If the Land Could Speak." Around the Kitchen Table, Métis Aunties’ Scholarship. Edited by Laura Forsythe & Jennifer Markides. 2024.Fiola, Chantal, Presses Scholars Portal Books: Canadian University, Books desLibris, and Library Canadian Electronic. Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality. uofmpress.ca: University of Manitoba Press, 2015. https://go.exlibris.link/mlzbGGsD.Fiola, Chantal, and Collection Xwi7xwa. "Returning to Ceremony: Spirituality in Manitoba Métis Communities." Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2021. https://go.exlibris.link/lgwXxVnw.hooks, bell. Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. New York: New Press, 1995. https://go.exlibris.link/sb5zrnJ6.Kovach, Margaret. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. University of Toronto Press, 2021.Oster, Bailey, Marilyn Lizee, and Collection Xwi7xwa. Stories of Métis Women: Tales My Kookum Told Me. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Durvile & UpRoute Books, 2021. https://go.exlibris.link/w7Dnz257.Smith, Linda Tuhiwai, Eve Tuck, K. Wayne Yang, Taylor, and A. Z. Francis eBooks. Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. Edited by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. 1 ed. New York: Routledge, 2019. doi:10.4324/9780429505010. Tuck, Eve. “Decolonizing Methodologies 15 Years Later.” AlterNative : an international journal of indigenous peoples 9, no. 4 (2013): 365-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/117718011300900407. https://go.exlibris.link/GJNNjrSx.Tuck, Eve, Haliehana Stepetin, Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing, and Jo Billows. “Visiting as an Indigenous Feminist Practice.” Gender and education 35, no. 2 (2023): 144-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2022.2078796. Endnotes1 Belcourt, Billy-Ray. Coexistence: stories, 2024, 20.2 Tait, Caroline. Forsythe, Laura, Jennifer Markides, and Collection Xwi7xwa. Around the Kitchen Table: Métis Aunties’ Scholarship. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2024, x. 3 Forsythe, Around the Kitchen Table: Métis Aunties’ Scholarship, xi.4 Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion, Audreen Hourie, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Metis Legacy (Volume Ii): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2., Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2006, 65. 5 Marble, Manton. "Red River and Beyond."21, no. Journal, Electronic. (1860): 289. https://go.exlibris.link/MgQDY7Jj6 Government of Alberta. “Fort Victoria.” Alberta Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=1&ObjectID=4665-0022.7 Seven Oaks House. n.d. “Ross Family Biographies.” Accessed December 29, 2024. https://www.sevenoakshouse.ca/salis-timentwa-sarah-ross.html8 Parks Canada. “Goulet House.” Canada’s Historic Places. Accessed December 29, 2024. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4897l9 Personal Communication with my Raymond Curé.10 Heritage Manitoba. “Significant Heritage Buildings of De Salaberry and St. Pierre.” Accessed December 29, 2024. http://heritagemanitoba.ca/images/pdfs/featuredProjects/De_Salaberry_Landmarks_Heritage_MB_complete.pdf11 York University. “Manitoba Region 2.” John H. Warkentin. Accessed December 29, 2024. https://wayback.library.yorku.ca/exhibits/20230930101444/https://archives.library.yorku.ca/exhibits/show/warkentin/item/358312 Scofield, Gregory. Kôhkominawak Ocihcîwâwa - Our Grandmothers’ Hands: Repatriating Métis Material Art. Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2023. 182-8313 Troupe, Cheryl, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Expressing Our Heritage: Resource Manual / Métis Artistic Designs. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2002. https://go.exlibris.link/CvV9NZgp. 40-66.14 Pelletier, Gilbert, Norman Fleury, Joe Welsh, Norma Welsh, Carrie Saganace, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Attack of the Roogaroos! Saskatoon, SK: Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2015.15 Warren Cariou, Bandits, Relatives, and Roogaroos: Joe Welsh's Halfbreed Kin Poetics, lecture, September 27, 2024. 16 Welsh, Joe. Jackrabbit Street. Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2003. 17 Barkwell, Metis Legacy (Volume II): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2, 9-30.18 Barkwell, Metis Legacy (Volume II): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2, 9-30.19 Pelletier, Jeanne, Carrie Saganace, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Whistle for Protection. Saskatoon, SK: Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2015.20 Barkwell, Metis Legacy (Volume II): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2, 9-30. 21 Barkwell, Metis Legacy (Volume II): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2, 9-30. 22 Pelletier, Gilbert, Norman Fleury, Carrie Saganace, Collection Xwi7xwa, Studies Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native, and Research Applied. Chi-Jean and the Red Willows. Saskatoon, SK: Gabriel Dumont Institute Press, 2015.23 Barkwell, Metis Legacy (Volume II): Michif Culture, Heritage, and Folkways. Vol. 2, 9-30 24 Campbell, Maria, Proquest. Halfbreed. Paperback ed. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2019. 18-19maarsii, merci, thank-you.robynadams.caCopyright © May 2025 by Robyn Adams
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