Pe Metawe Games: A Small Light in a Dark Time

When it comes to shopping locally, I’ve found it’s easy to find restaurants, boutiques and bookstores aplenty but, in terms of more niche markets I’ve been at a loss. Specifically in the market of table-top roleplaying games (RPGs). That is until I found out about Pe Metawe Games. Pe Metawe (Cree for “come & play”) is a local, Indigenous owned retail game store with a passion for bringing RPGs into the lives of everyone. 

“One of our main focuses is trying to bring in smaller names and indie games that people don’t always have access to or know about,” said Emilie, retail coordinator.

Pe Metawe began as a consulting business working with Indigenous youth on building life skills and healthy relationships and providing tools for success. 

“Pe Metawe consulting was kind of the precursor to Pe Metawe games,” explained co-founder and team guide, David Plamondon, “[my business partner and I] had been engaged by the Treaty 8 Urban CFS office [Child and Family Services]. [...] Fast forward to April of 2019 we were reached out to by the same client and they had wanted something a little more long form in terms of support.” This support would be in the form of a social media platform for Treaty 8 youth to connect with each other and to provide support and engagement to the community. Plamondon and his business partner talked about how they could stay proactive in receiving the work they were skilled at and began talking about the premise of Pe Metawe.

“Having worked with a lot of Indigenous organizations and communities we both recognized that there were, unfortunately, a lot of gaps for Indigeous people as they transition from youth to adulthood. [...] We wanted to make sure that our focus was on supporting those individuals.” said Plamondon.

 A lot of this community building was done through tabletop RPGs and board games which they wanted to sell to those they were working with. Specifically, Plamondon explains that, in creating a relationship with the schools and other organizations, the last thing they wanted was a sense of dependency in terms of the work they do.

“We wanted to have that two frame model where, yes, you can bring us in as subject experts and we’ll do the work for you but if resources are not where you need them to be, or it’s easier to do the work internally, whatever the reasons are, we can provide you the framework [...] that we utilize and the games as well.”

 However, many of these games could not be sold without a brick and mortar store in operations, not to mention regular wear and tear that would happen over time; thus, the beginning of Pe Metawe Games.

At first, the Pe Metawe team worried about being Treaty 8 exclusive considering most of the Pe Metawe consulting had been operated primarily in Northern Alberta. The store, nonetheless, ended up in Edmonton which according to them, is a place with an amalgamation of Treaty people, beyond just Treaty 6. Located on 118th Avenue, Plamondon described the city as “an important area for the work that we do [...] in terms of just geography, it is a really good, centralized place in Alberta for us to do the work we do and still be able to include a broader range of Indignous people aside from just Treaty 6 community.”

Overall, this store seems to be a small light in the city with a mission worth writing about and worth checking out. If you’re interested in becoming involved with Pe Metawe, they have free virtual drop in RPG games for teenagers that can be found on their website. The store, located at 11805 94 St, is open for in-store shopping and curbside pickup.

If you’re interested in starting or becoming a part of a small business, both Emilie and Plamondon gave advice worth listening to:

E: It’s going to sound basic but don’t give up, I probably sent David twelve emails before I started working here. If it’s something that you want and you know that you want it, be persistent; something you’ve got to make it happen for yourself.

DP: There’s a lot of risk, a lot of reward when you’re starting your own business, I think the biggest thing I would start with would be to make sure you understand all of the nature of going into a business, the costs, the risk, the amount of work it takes. Also, recognize the amount of work you can do if you really put your mind to it and have a solid plan behind you. [...] Know what you’re doing, do the research, have a solid plan for the contingencies that come up. 

Beyond that I would say: take the time to research the resources that are available for entrepreneurs. There is a lot of support out there.