Alternative Futures and Solidarities

Explore how Indigenous knowledge systems, philosophies, and technologies inform visions of the future. Through engagement with speculative fiction, art, architecture, and science, examine how Indigenous perspectives reframe conventional ideas about progress and inspire innovative approaches to building sustainable, interconnected futures.

This unit treats memory as a generative force—not only preserving what has been, but actively imagining what could be. Indigenous Futurism challenges the idea that archives are only about the past. Instead, these creative works ask: How do we archive futures? What does it mean to remember forward? How might the act of imagining become a form of resistance and restoration? As you engage with speculative stories, films, and creative projects, consider how these visions function as archives of possibility.

Events and Programs

Events and Programs Related to Alternative Futures and Solidarities


Date	Time	Details	Location
November 14	9:00am–12:00pm	Exploring Indigenous Ingenuity in Ancient Americas (professional development for educators; ticket required)	Field Museum
Date TBA	TBA	Education Team Creative Writing Workshop: envisioning futures through Indigenous storytelling methods	TBA
November 1–30	Any Time	Look for speculative and futurist shorts in the Smithsonian’s Native Cinema Showcase, November 13–27	Online

Learning Goals

Examine the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern technology—and how both are preserved and reimagined.
Analyze speculative fiction as a form of cultural archiving that challenges dominant narratives.
Investigate how Indigenous values might shape future societies—and what it means to document not only the past, but possible futures.
Explore how speculative work functions as counter-archive, preserving alternative visions often excluded from mainstream futurism.

Learning Modules

Foundations, Histories

Read:
- “Taking the Fiction Out of Science Fiction: A Conversation about Indigenous Futurisms”—An interview with Grace Dillon, a scholar in Indigenous futurisms, exploring the concept of “imagining forward.”
- “Decolonizing Science Fiction and Imagining Indigenous Futures: An Indigenous Futurisms Roundtable”—Indigenous creators discuss the power of decolonizing speculative fiction.
Watch: She Falls For Ages,” Skawenatti — Skawenatti’s sci-fi retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.
Make: A letter to the seventh generation. Many Indigenous nations teach that decisions should consider their effects seven generations ahead. Write a one-page letter to someone living seven generations from now about one decision being made today: on your campus, in your city, or in your family. Tell them what you hope you did.

💬 Reflection Prompts:

Many Indigenous futurists point out that Native peoples have already survived an apocalypse. How does that change what “the future” means?
She Falls For Ages tells a creation story as science fiction. What happens when origin and future share one story?
In the mainstream science fiction you know, whose futures appear? Who is missing, and who gets cast as the alien?

Alternative Futures and Solidarities

Read:
- “Coming to You from the Indigenous Future: Native Women, Speculative Film Shorts, and the Art of the Possible,” Danika Medak-Saltzman — on Native women’s role in speculative media.
- “How to Survive the Apocalypse for Native Girls,” Kai Minosh Pyle (in *Love After the End) —* a queer Indigenous anthology about the end of the world and resilience.
- “Constellations of Co-Resistance,” Leanne Simpson — reflections on solidarity and resistance.
Watch:
- *Hoverboard* (dir. Sydney Freeland) — a short film blending sci-fi with Indigenous humor
- The 6th World (dir. Nanobah Becker) — a story of Navajo astronauts confronting environmental issues on Mars.
- The Cave (dir. Helen Haig-Brown) — a re-imagining of time travel and ancestral memory.
Make: Draw your constellation. Leanne Simpson describes movements connected without merging, like stars in a constellation. Draw your own: the communities, groups, and causes you belong to, plus at least one Indigenous-led effort. Draw a line for each way two points could support each other. Aim for reciprocity, not charity: what flows in both directions?

💬 Reflection Prompts:

Which constellation are you already part of, and where is a connection missing?
Pick one short: Hoverboard, The 6th World, or The Cave. What does solidarity look like in that world, and between whom?
What would solidarity ask of you that feels uncomfortable? What would make it possible anyway?

Digital Futures and Storytelling

Experience: Attend the Education and Training Team’s Creative Writing Workshop and explore how creative writing can be a tool for envisioning futures through Indigenous storytelling methods.
Read:
- Love After the End anthology — Queer Indigenous visions of the future.
- Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, edited by Grace L. Dillon — a collection of Indigenous sci-fi and futurist stories.
- Take Us to Your Chief: and Other Stories, Drew Hayden Taylor — classic sci-fi tropes with a First Nations twist.
- Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich — a novel on dystopia, evolution, and survival.
Watch:
- Blood Quantum (dir. Jeff Barnaby) — a zombie apocalypse movie rooted in Indigenous survival.
- Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (dir. Amanda Strong) — a stop-motion film on time, language, and resilience.
Listen:
- “Empowering Through Story: Indigenous Creativity and Leadership with Josue Rivas” (Beyond the Art Podcast) — discussions on storytelling, leadership, and Indigenous creativity.
- “Métis in Space" Podcast — reviews of sci-fi with Indigenous feminist humor.
- “Indigenous Futurisms” (Imaginary Worlds Podcast) — explores Indigenous sci-fi perspectives.

💬 Reflection Prompts:

In Blood Quantum, Indigenous people are immune to a plague that devastates everyone else. What is the film saying about blood, belonging, and who decides who belongs?
Biidaaban imagines Toronto’s future through Anishinaabe knowledge. What would Evanston or Chicago look like through that lens?
New tools like AI, games, and virtual reality now shape how stories are made and stored. Who should own Indigenous stories and data in those systems, and what would Indigenous data sovereignty require?

Interactive Activity | Make: Indigenous Futures Timeline

Develop an interactive timeline that explores multiple possible Indigenous futures. Integrate Indigenous perspectives on time (cyclical or non-linear), traditional knowledge, and contemporary innovations. Consider this timeline as both a creative project and an archival practice—documenting not what was, but what could be.

Choose Your Timeline Format:
- Digital interactive timeline
- Physical installation or collage
- Mixed media presentation
Create Timeline Segments:
- Near future (next 5-10 years)
- Mid-range future (25-50 years)
- Long-term future (100+ years)
- Include cyclical elements if relevant.
For Each Time Period, Include:
- Key events or technological advancements
- Cultural practices and innovations
- Environmental changes or adaptations
- Transformations in community life
- Integration of traditional knowledge with technology

💬 Reflection Prompts:

What role do you imagine for yourself in the future you described? What does it ask of you this year?
What did you carry from the past into your entry?
Read three entries others wrote. Where do your futures overlap, and where do they conflict?
Who gets to imagine forward, and how can a shared timeline make room for voices that are usually left out?