Culturally sensible digital place-making
Mediated XicanIndio Resolana is an interactive rhetorical space where multiple participants engage in three rounds of verbal discourse surrounding a special topic (Figure 1.1). In this space, discourse is coupled with the manipulation of digital media through cultural interaction protocols and symbolic gestures. Our aim is to use this system to conduct social and cultural work in middle and high school classrooms. As a design team that includes Chicano and Native American designers, we seek to express respectful and appropriate design sensibilities that derive from indigenous epistemologies. To achieve this we have sought critical feedback through our cross-cultural partnerships with members of various indigenous communities.In this paper, we will present (a) the theoretical foundations and educational needs that govern our design, (b) a design overview of the Mediated XicanIndio Resolana, and (c) the lessons we have learned through community discourse regarding the cultural sensibilities of our work.