# 2. Indigenous Storyworlds: Beings at the Threshold

Explore Indigenous accounts of beings that cross between worlds — tricksters, cryptids, shapeshifters, underworld creatures, and guardians. Emphasis is placed on understanding these beings within their cultural context and relations: to the land, to ecological systems, to human communities, and to spiritual protocols. This book resists decontextualizing or exoticizing; instead it invites respectful engagement with how Indigenous storyworlds represent threshold beings and their lessons.  
  
🔑 Key Features of This Structure

- <span>Starts with </span>**protocols**<span> (grounding in respect).</span>
- <span>Anchors in </span>**Blackfoot knowledge**<span> while making room for global Indigenous voices.</span>
- <span>Bridges into </span>**XR translation**<span> without rushing past cultural protocols.</span>
- <span>Ends with </span>**reflections and cautions**<span> — ensuring humility.</span>  
      
      
    **Keywords:**<span> IIndigenous XR, Blackfoot, Napi, Thunderbird, trickster, shapeshifters, underworld beings, oral tradition, relations, context, storyworlds.</span>

# 1. Protocols & Context

- **Purpose:** Establish how beings should be represented in this Codex. Document the importance of cultural protocols, relationality, and context. Provide space for Elders and knowledge keepers to guide contributions.
- **Starter Content:**
    - Statement of humility and gratitude.
    - Note that stories belong to Nations/communities, not to the Codex.
    - Emphasize “story-before-data.”

# 2. Blackfoot Beings (Montana Anchor)

- **Purpose:** Provide a starting point rooted in BEK leadership. Document Blackfoot threshold beings (e.g., Napi, Underwater Beings, Thunderbirds), guided by Tyson &amp; Lona Running Wolf.
- **Starter Content:**
    
    
    - Acknowledgment that not all stories can or should be shared.
    - Notes on how BEK protocols shape this project.
    - Examples that demonstrate relation to land/ecology (e.g., rivers, mountains).

# 3. Regional Indigenous Beings (Global Contributions)

- **Purpose:** Invite Indigenous contributors from other regions (Māori, Sámi, Aboriginal, Latin American, African Indigenous) to document their own threshold beings.
- **Starter Content:**
    
    
    - Template: “Name of Being / Nation / Region / Context / Lessons / Relation to Land / XR Potential”
    - Reminder: only contribute if the Nation consents and context can be respectfully explained.

# 4. Translating to XR

- **Purpose:** Explore how Indigenous designers and communities decide to represent (or not represent) these beings in XR — including VR, AR, games, and other immersive media.
- **Starter Content:**
    
    
    - Ethical cautions about visualizing sacred beings.
    - Examples of respectful design (e.g., symbolic representation vs. literal depiction).
    - Considerations of hardware, software, and human infrastructure.

# 5. Reflections & Cautions

- **Purpose:** Gather community reflections on the risks, responsibilities, and opportunities of weaving threshold beings into immersive learning.
- **Starter Content:**
    
    
    - Risks of appropriation or misrepresentation.
    - Ways to ensure reciprocity and benefit to Indigenous communities.
    - Guidance for iLRN members on when *not* to represent beings.