Indigenous Land-Based Education in Theory and Practice

“Land-Based” But what is Indigenous land-based programming? What AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE continue on the path of are the similarities and differences between Indigenous reclamation, an emerging focus of reconnection and the land-based programming and Western models of place- revitalization of Indigenous life, the concept and practice based education? of “land-based programming” has emerged and served. [...] Land-based implies a deep connection education and the work of many Indigenous scholars and with and non-separation between human beings and the writers that explain the centrality of land for Indigenous natural world. [...] Indigenous Land Based Education in Theory and Practice 7 Land-Based Education “Land-based education sustains Land-based education and programming are positioned as an Indigenous method for regenerating Indigenous and grows Indigenous governance, lifeways and thought systems because Indigenous knowledges are relational, and land is key in the knowledge ethics and philosophy – and life.” generation. [...] The poor mental and physical health outcomes of Indigenous peoples in Canada are a result of colonial systems, practices, and policies designed to control and assimilate them and secure access to land and natural resources for settlement and exploitation. [...] The growth of participants, including staff and volunteers, the relationships catalyzed and activated during the program between humans and the land, and the ongoing community connections and sense of community created tend to be overlooked.