THE LAND IS THE CLASSROOM
A glimpse into life at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, a Northwest Territories school that provides Indigenous connections to the land
A glimpse into life at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, a Northwest Territories school that provides Indigenous connections to the land
CLASS IS IN SESSION, but Jonathan Konistea isn’t at a desk. Instead, he’s watching two Dene elders build a birchbark canoe near the shore of a rippling Blachford Lake. Nearby, his classmate Peter Andrews is scraping a moose hide stretched across a wooden frame, preparing the skin for tanning. A third student, Melaw Nakehk’o, joins them, a shovel in her hand, and starts clearing pine needles and brush from the group’s campsite. Welcome to student life at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, a school where the land is both the classroom and the most important teacher. Located 90 kilometres east of Yellowknife at the Blachford Lake Lodge & Wilderness Resort on Yellowknives Dene First Nation territory, Dechinta provides northern Indigenous land-based learning experiences for university students. The first postsecondary program of its kind in Canada, Dechinta opened in 2010 and has since seen about 300 students pursue credits toward their undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Alberta, Mcgill University and the University of British Columbia. With guidance from a team of elders, professors and community leaders, students learn practical skills related to Indigenous culture and study ways to address the challenges facing Canada’s North and its peoples, including exploring topics such as colonization, decolonization, reconciliation and racism. The interdisciplinary curriculum is delivered in 12-week semesters, during which students spend much of their time on the land, either at a traditional camp in Clockwise from above: Paul Mackenzie steers his boat away from Blachford Lake Lodge; Jonathan Konistea chops firewood; Mackenzie (left) teaches Peter Andrews and Crystal Campbell how to build a toy birchbark canoe; Melaw Nakehk’o clears brush from a lakeside camp.
the wilderness or on the lodge property, where they do coursework in subjects such as boreal ecology, Dene self-determination and Indigenous law. Students’ families also stay at the lodge throughout the semester, taking part in intergenerational learning — a key to Dechinta’s success. “We found that the number-one barrier for people attending post-secondary and being successful in the North was not being able to afford child care and not wanting to take children out of their cultural context,” says Erin Freeland Ballantyne, one of Dechinta’s founders and current dean. “Because of that, we have a daycare through a land-based children’s school. So if you have one kid or five kids, you bring them.” The demand for places such as Dechinta is growing. Historically, Canada’s education system has not been a positive place for Indigenous students or teachers, says Freeland Ballantyne. “If we want people to feel that they’re in a space where they can learn, they have to feel safe.” Pat Kane is a Yellowknife-based photographer who covers Canada’s Far North. Michela Rosano is Canadian Geographic’s associate editor.