Toronto (Tkaronto) November 4, 2026 – The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) announced today it has awarded $400,000 CAD to seven projects from U.S.–based Indigenous XR creators.
With funding from Agog: The Immersive Media Institute for the 2026–2027 ISO Immersive Fund Interactive and Immersive Program, these seven XR projects will receive grants to advance their work.
Part of the ISO’s Story Fund stream, the Interactive and Immersive Program allocates funds for the development and production of high-calibre AR/VR/XR works, and immersive and/or interactive projects that include audiovisual content. Recipients include projects dedicated to environmental restoration and the preservation of sacred and culturally significant Indigenous sites.
Development:
Project: On This Site: Native Long Island XR
Key Creatives: Jeremy Dennis, Shinnecock Indian Nation
Format: XR immersive media
State: New York
Synopsis: A Shinnecock-led XR prototype that lets Native Long Island sites reveal layered histories, photographs, language, plant knowledge, archival fragments, and protected community context through immersive mapping and site-based AR.
Project: Ho’i I Ka Piko
Key Creative: Evyn-Bree Helekahi-Kaiwi, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian)
Format: Immersive media experience
State: Hawaii
Synopsis: Inspired by a Native Hawaiian family’s living practice of returning infants’ piko (umbilical cords) to their ancestral homeland, Hoʻi i ka Piko is an Indigenous immersive media experience in development that explores how interactive storytelling can reconnect people to genealogy, place, and cultural responsibility.
Project: Kaona XR
Company: Theorycraftist Games
Key Creative: Jeffrey Vierra, Kanaka Maoli
Format: RPG immersive game
State: Hawaii
Synopsis: Kaona XR transforms an existing, community-tested Hawaiian storytelling RPG into an immersive classroom experience, using soundscape design and projected media to bring students physically into Moku ʻĀina, the first realm they already explore on the tabletop.
Production:
Project: Echoes Breaking Silence
Key Creatives: Jackson Pearson, Central Council of Tlingit, Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit) and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe)
Format: Interactive Documentary
State: Texas
Synopsis: Echoes Breaking Silence voices the experiences of Native families, elders, youth and community leaders-examining the tragic effects of suicide in Native villages and sharing experiences of survival, recovery and hope throughout Alaska.
Project: Give Them Flowers
Key Creative: Raven Two Feathers, Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche
Format: VR digital space
State: Washington
Synopsis: Based off of a mural for trans elders and those who’ve passed, Give Them Flowers provides a gallery space to explore heartfelt videos of Two Spirit and Indigiqueer people and bring the beauty of each of their homelands to life by scattering native wildflower seeds which bring vibrancy and interconnected life into the concrete space.
Project: Ahupua’a Living Lab
Key Creatives: Tiare Ribeaux, Kanaka Maoli / Kanaka ʻOiwi, Rarámuri
Format: Immersive XR experience
State: Hawaii
Synopsis: The Ahupua’a Living Lab is an Indigenous-led immersive XR experience where interactive storytelling and a living digital landscape evolve alongside real-world restoration, weaving ancestral knowledge, spatial data, and community stories into a model for climate resilience, food sovereignty, and collective stewardship.
Project: EARTH.SPEAKS 𐓷𐓘𐓻𐓘𐓻𐓟
Key Creative: Brooke Smiley, Wahzhazhe-Osage
Format: XR Platform
State: California
Synopsis: EARTH.SPEAKS is a location-based XR platform that uses augmented reality, spatial audio, Indigenous language, and community storytelling to reconnect Osage people and the public with culturally significant lands through immersive, embodied experiences.
The ISO Story Fund supports Indigenous talent, communities, and companies in developing, producing, and marketing screen content. Through partnerships, the fund helps build a thriving Indigenous screen sector and workforce.
About the Indigenous Screen Office
The Indigenous Screen Office is an independent national advocacy and funding organization supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis creators of screen-based content in Canada. The ISO’s mandate is to foster narrative sovereignty, cultural revitalization, and increased Indigenous control and participation in the screen sector. Its work aligns with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and contributes to the advancement of Indigenous languages, storytelling, and creative expression on all platforms.
About Agog: The Immersive Media Institute
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute is a philanthropic organization founded by Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt that is dedicated to helping creators and nonprofit leaders use extended reality—including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality—to imagine and build a more connected, just, and compassionate world. Agog operates as a field builder and creative partner, supporting immersive storytellers whose work addresses urgent social and environmental challenges. Learn more at agog.org.
Media inquiries:
Press Contact:
Andréa Grau — Touchwood PR
andrea@touchwoodpr.com