INDIGENOUS LAND-BASED LEARNING ACROSS TURTLE ISLAND

Garrick Schmidt grew up in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, as part of a Métis family from the Qu’appelle Valley. As a child, he spent summers with his mother learning medicines and harvesting plants. He eventually learned to hunt, tan moose hides and build canoes from birch. Now, Schmidt is a teacher who sits at his desk in a large teepee. Wolf furs hang from a line as the sun filters in around him. “It is a dream come true to be here,” he says of his work with the kâniyasihk Culture Camps near Ministikwan Lake, home of Island Lake First Nation.

Schmidt is sharing the teachings of his youth with his students and, more broadly, working to Indigenize the curriculum across Saskatchewan. He’s part of a growing movement of Indigenous people providing opportunities for land-based learning across Turtle Island, he says. Land-based learning recognizes the deep mental, physical and spiritual connection to the land that is part of Indigenous cultures. Youth are taught to live in relationship to the land in the spirit of reciprocity.

In Ontario, the Pikangikum First Nation developed the Indigenous Knowledge Curriculum, integrating Indigenous knowledge into post-secondary programming. Bushkids in Yellowknife trains educators to bring their classrooms outdoors, in part through a weekly program for kids aged 5 to 11. In Nova Scotia, the Reclaiming Our Roots program offers land-based learning rooted in Mi’kmaw values, through mentoring and workshops.

“It’s really neat to see the development of all the programs and the success they are having,” he says. It’s not easy. “Starting a program from scratch, it’s a struggle. There’s a lot of funding necessary to maintain programming at a high standard.” Funding helps cover the cost of instructors, teachers and community members such as elders and knowledge keepers. “Communities are vital in the success of the programs.”

Schmidt is heartened by the interest in land-based learning he has seen from non-indigenous communities. More and more, teachers from those school systems are approaching him for advice on how to integrate land-based learning into the curriculum. “It’s an important part of reconciliation,” he says. “There’s more openness to learn.”