The Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia Digital Storybook
CLIENT: SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN | ROLE: Producer, User Experience Lead
For most of American history, the lessons taught to young students about Native American history and culture have told a story that very often omits the voices of these communities themselves. Through its Native Knowledge 360º program, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, which oversees one of the world’s largest collections of Native artifacts, provides educators with teaching resources that “incorporate Native narratives, more comprehensive histories, and accurate information.”
Working in close collaboration with NMAI’s education staff, my team at Threespot developed a template for a new “digital storybook” format for NMAI’s NK360º learning modules. Intended as in-classroom learning aids for K-12 educators, NK360º materials are engaging and approachable, and they’re optimized for desktop and tablet devices commonly used by students aged 8-12.
Building upon content provided by NMAI about the Pamunkey tribe of Virginia, my team proposed an immersive, chapter-based experience that presents text content and rich visual and audio media in an intuitive, accessible, linear narrative structure. The storybook’s vibrant color palette and visual language of patterns and shapes evoke meaningful symbols in the Pamunkey culture, and the storybook can be easily replicated and customized for future NK360º learning modules.
