Learning from the Land

In this section, you will learn about the importance of learning with the land, led by Indigenous Peoples.

Introduction

Although there is much diversity between First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, a deep and abiding connection to the land is common. Dr. Leroy Littlebear says that “The land is a sacred trust from the Creator. The land is the giver of life like a mother. The ecological aspect of Indigenous knowledge is all about the land. The land is a source of identity for Aboriginal People.”1 Elder Bob Joseph explains that “traditional knowledge, languages, cultural practices and oral traditions built up over the millennia are all connected to the land.”2  Living in balance with the land and each other connects with Indigenous languages.3 Learning from the land interconnects with learning from the natural world ,which survival is dependent upon. Indigenous cultural understandings of the natural world are embedded in language and stories connected to the land, water, air, and fire. 

Connection

The values of reciprocity, respect, balance, and connection to spirituality are central to learning from the natural world. Indigenous histories and stories are embedded in the relationship and respect of the natural world. Leaders can partake in and facilitate opportunities for nature-based learning experiences led by Indigenous people who have specific background knowledge in topics such as plant and medicine, ceremony, star stories, sacred fire teachings, traditional governance, rites of passage, spirit and intent of Treaty experts, hunting and gathering, and land based arts. There are many traditional  and sacred sites of cultural significance across Alberta, so it is important to work closely with local Indigenous Peoples when engaging in  land based  learning opportunities. This will help ensure that experiences are respectful, authentic, and meaningful. Learning from the land is often referred to as Place Based Learning (PBL) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and is becoming more commonplace within education systems because it presents an opportunity for educators and students to learn more about the histories and stories of the land, sky and water and people while meeting curricular outcomes. 

Traditional/Ancestral  Territory

Traditional/Ancestral territory may or may not overlap with Treaty boundaries. For example, the Blackfoot Nation’s ancestral territory once occupied areas up to what is now Edmonton with the North Saskatchewan River being the major landmark that signified the boundary between nations. This territory contrasts with the Treaty 7 boundaries which are landmarked by the Red Deer River. Traditional/Ancestral Land use extends beyond the borders of reserves in which First Nations were forced on to. Prior to the Crown Treaty with First Nations, there were Peace Treaties between First Nations. For example, Wetaskiwin which means “the hills where peace was made” was the site in which the Cree and Blackfoot Nation entered Treaty. This Treaty set forth the mutual agreement that both nations would live in peace, have mutual respect and share the territory. The Métis Nation homeland developed along the fur trade routes of what is now known as Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta,  parts of Ontario, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States.5 Métis and First Nations families have been surviving on these lands for generations prior to the making of Alberta. 

The history and teachings of this land, water, and sky runs deeper than the past 500 years. Nations coexisted, survived and utilized the land, water and sky prior to Crown Treaties and colonial takeover. Understanding the historical context of Indigenous relations with each other, the land natural world and newcomers to the land is an important part of reconciliation. 

Forced Disconnection

The connection to the natural world has been disrupted through policies of colonization, assimilation, and attempted genocide. Forced disconnection from the land and water has caused spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental damage to many Indigenous Peoples. Some examples of methods used to disconnect Indigenous Peoples from the land include forced relocation, forced confinement onto reserves, fraudulent land acquisition schemes, Métis scrip fraud, ecocide, and banning of traditional food and medicine harvesting. Outlawing ceremonies, which celebrate and honor the natural world, was another method of attempting to disconnect Indigenous Peoples from their cultural way of life in which the natural world is connected to kinship bonds.  

Indigenous Peoples have and continue to  be  impacted by the government of Canada’s aggressive colonial displacement and dispossession tactics while persistently excluding the  Metis Nations sovereign rights. 6  An excerpt from the Alberta Metis Nation websites History of Métis Self-Government website explains:

When Canada expanded into the Northwest following confederation, we were here. This is our Homeland. When Canada asserted its sovereignty here, we had a right to be treated as a nation. When Canada took our lands for settlement, we had a right to fair compensation. We got neither. Canada denied our nationhood. When we declared self-government—in 1869, in Red River; in 1885, in Batoche—Canada tried to break us. Canada gave us scrip—certificates that offered a false promise of lands that were systematically bought up by speculators. By the end of the century, Canada had reduced us to being squatters in our own land. We—the Otipemisiwak—were now being called the “road allowance people.”

Despite methods used to disconnect Indigenous Peoples from the natural world, many continue to connect to the land, sky and water while passing on this knowledge to current and future generations. Creating opportunities for nature-based learning include showing respect for the natural world that it provides; harvesting and hunting protocols,  seasonal ceremonies and songs, Indigenous calendar teachings, honoring sacred sites and places of cultural significance.

Culturally Significant Sites

First Nations

There are many places of cultural and natural significance in what is now Alberta. There is sanctity of the physical spaces that represent the value of culturally significant sites. Places like Okotoks (Big Rock), Siksikaitsitapi (Nosehill Sun Wheel), Rib Stones, Earth Wall Village, Berry Point, Medicine Lake Wintering Hills, Lac St. Anne, Cyprus Hills, Blackfoot Crossing, Head-Smashed in Buffalo Jump (UNESCO), Métis Crossing, Writing on Stone Provincial Park /Aisinai’pi (UNESCO) and Medicine Wheel sites are examples of culturally significant sites that hold rich knowledge and continue to be considered sacred by many Indigenous Peoples. While educators can seek information about these places through Indigenous developed print or digital format, deeper learning and appreciation will naturally occur when you walk through those spaces with the Indigenous Peoples that are connected historically to those locations while receiving teachings and stories connected to the land. It is critical to ensure respect for the spaces is emphasized to continue to preserve and protect these places which showcase the richness embedded into our landscape and culture.

Inuit

Inuit presence in the province of Alberta is significant. Many Inuit were sent here for tuberculosis treatment at the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital. Today there are many Inuit that live in Alberta. Inherent cultural values remain at the heart of Inuit despite some not living on their traditional territories. Inuit knowledge is grounded in maligait (four laws) which include “working for the common good, respecting all living things, maintaining harmony and balance, and continually planning and preparing for the future”.8  

“Historically, the survival of Inuit depended solely on the land and waters and the wildlife that they provide. The relationship between the Inuit and the land was one, like a newborn baby to her mother.”9 

 Strong ties to tradition, language and land remain despite extensive changes in Inuit society. “The Inuit continue to have a strong, unique culture that guides our everyday life — our close ties to the land, a dedication to the community and a strong sense of self-reliance.”10  

There are four Inuit regions in Canada, collectively known as Inuit Nunangat which means land, water, and ice: Inuvialuit ( Northwest Territories and Yukon), Nunavik (Northern Quebec) , Nunatsiavut (Labrador) and Nunavut. Inuit consider the land, water, and ice, of our homeland to be integral to our culture and our way of life.11 

Métis

Many Métis People in Alberta continue to have a deep connection to the land while others have been severely disconnected due to aggressive assimilation policies. Most recently in Alberta, the Métis Nation, through continued negotiating and advocating for inherent rights, recently have been granted hunting and harvesting rights which means a renewed relationship with the land. Métis people live across the province and continue to live out traditions that connect them to the land in a variety of ways.. Fraudulent scrip practices and forced relocation disconnected many Métis from traditional land-based connections, however, those connections have not been severed with Métis people continuing to  pass on land-based knowledge. 

The Métis National Environment Committee says that “over many generations, Métis have discovered innovative ways to live in their particular environment despite diminished access to land and waters.”12 A  Sharing the Sharing the Harvest Report quotes Clem Chartier (1993) on the Importance of land for Indigenous Peoples:

For Indigenous Peoples’ continued existence – throughout the world – land is a prerequisite. It is essential because Indigenous Peoples are inextricably related to land: it sustains our spirits and bodies; it determines how our societies develop and operate based on available environmental and natural resources; and our socialization and governance flow from this intimate relationship. Because of that intimate relationship, the land is rendered inalienable: it is a natural right, a right essential for the continued vitality of the physical, spiritual, socio-economic and political life and survival of the Indigenous Peoples for generations to come.13 

A map, created by the Métis Nation of Alberta’s Otipemisiwak magazine, features current places to connect with Métis history and culture. Rupertsland Institute also presents a map that features 61+ historical Métis communities in the Métis in Alberta: Métis Foundational Knowledge Theme. Currently, Métis Crossing, near Smoky Lake, is a cultural gathering center in which experiential learning opportunities are made available. Lac St. Anne is considered a gathering place for many Métis, First Nations and Inuit. Fort Dunvegan, Mahikan Trails, Painted Warriors, , Rocky Mountain House Historical Site, Kikino Silver Birch, Fort Chipewyan, and Jasper Tours  are all places to connect with Métis History and culture. Educators can also connect with RupertsLand, Métis Regional Offices, Métis Locals, and nearby Métis Settlements across Alberta to learn more about local culture, happenings, and history.

Survive and Thrive

Indigenous People survived and thrived on this land long before Canada became a nation. The Doctrine of Discovery originated in the 1400s and was used as justification for colonial dispossession of sovereign Indigenous Nations land in what is now Canada. It allowed Christian explorers to claim lands for their monarchs who felt they could exploit the land, regardless of the original inhabitants.14 

The concept of terra nullius (no one owns the land prior to European assertion of sovereignty) was set forth to justify land acquisition even though Indigenous Peoples were using the lands in traditional ways since time immemorial. Newcomers did not consider Indigenous Peoples oral laws, views of nature, or their society equal to European written laws. Today, many Canadians are not aware that Indigenous Peoples helped shape this nation. For example, many helped newcomers survive and thrive on this land by offering knowledge about hunting and trapping route systems, plants, shelter and animals. David Thompson was only able to map the land because he was accepted by the family of his wife Charlotte Small, who was Indigenous. It was his Indigenous in-laws and allies that showed him the ways of surviving and traveling on this land and this aided in further exploration by newcomers.  

Place Names

There are many current efforts to restore original Indigenous place names as well as revitalizing language. This land was remapped and renamed through settler colonial eyes with the intent to erase and replace Indigenous toponyms. Throughout what is now Canada, the settler colonial landscape has been named by and for settlers with place names taken from Europe, Christian saints, land surveyors’ families, or after those who colonized or worked to eliminate the Indigenous people of particular locations. 

Methods of naming places by colonial settlers contrasts “the deeply meaningful, personal, and often spiritual naming practices of Indigenous peoples.” 15 In comparison to widely known settler colonial place names there is a small portion of original Indigenous place names that can be readily found on maps and signs. Stories from the Land: Indigenous Place Names in Canada is an online tool that can be used to find entry points into learning about Indigenous place names that continue to exist in Canada. There are many efforts being taken alongside Indigenous people to rename and reclaim Indigenous place names. 

Land Acknowledgement

We All Go Back to the Land, by Suzanne Keeptwo states:                                                                 

Land Acknowledgements should be done to bring awareness and Truth to Canadians, and foster relationships between Canadians and Inuit, First Nation, and Métis peoples. Land Acknowledgements should be done to help heal the Land so it will sustain us and those who come after us. Everything comes back to the Land–as our common denominator and most perfect unifier for Reconciliation. But first there must be Truth 16 

Land Acknowledgements are not just verbatim scripts but rather heartful and well-intentioned words inspired by genuine respect and gratitude to the land and original peoples of this land. Leaders can model reconciliation by acknowledging the land and people while shifting policy to include this practice as an action towards reconciliation. Many districts have delved deeper into the topic of land acknowledgements. For further learning about land acknowledgements within an education setting refer to the suggested resources below and connect with local Indigenous Peoples. 

Note: Consult with local Elders and Knowledge Keepers to learn more about sacred/significant sites and land-based learning in your local area.