You may not have heard about Barayamal, but you should definitely learn more about them. They’re a world leader in Indigenous Entrepreneurship and are now setting their sights on gaming.
What is Barayamal?
Barayamal (“black swan”, pronunciation) was founded in late 2016 by Founder Dean Foley, a Kamilaroi man from Gunnedah, NSW. (FYI: How to pronounce Kamilaroi).
Dean saw the lack of positive role models in business for First Nations people. He also saw the disparity gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Their purpose, in their own words:
We inspire, educate and support First Nations youth and budding entrepreneurs through technology and entrepreneurship to help them achieve their dreams and create a better world for all who live in it.
What gaming initiatives has Barayamal started?
First coding game based on a traditional game
This August, Barayamal has created the first coding game based on a traditional Indigenous game. It’ll be used to teach Indigenous youth how to code and help progress their career aspirations in technology.
The game is based on kulap (or kolap), a game played throughout the Torres Strait Islands. Kulap involves “teams of one to two players” who “throw objects, attempting to make them land on a target on the ground”.
The coolest part? Other than playing the game, you can click “See inside” to see all the coding! (See below).
The aim of the game is to teach Indigenous youth how to code and support their STEM aspirations. They can see exactly how the game works and see how they can build projects to promote their own culture.
You can check out the game on MIT Scratch here.
2018 Give Backathon “Game Jam”
The kulap game is a first step in promoting game development amongst Indigenous youth. The next step is Barayamal’s “Game Jam”.
Game Jam is a charity hackathon “that will be made up of programmers, designers and entrepreneurs who will be working together to create games that help get more Indigenous youth into coding and technology.”
The Game Jam is happening over the 23rd-25th of November 2018 at the Barayamal Centre of Entrepreneurship, 349 Montague Road, West End 4101.
Register for the Game Jame here.
2017 Give Backathon on NITV News
Learn more about Barayamal
It’s absolutely amazing to see the work that Barayamal has been doing for First Nations Australians. You can learn more about Barayamal, Dean Foley and their initiatives at their website www.barayamal.com.au.
