Indigenous Land-based Learning
Enhancing the well-being of Indigenous students through culturally grounded land-based education, delivered within the Indigenous community and at the Wampum Learning Lodge.
Project Lead: Office of Indigenous Initiatives
Project Status: In Progress
This project enhances the Indigenous student experience by supporting their holistic well-being through initiatives focused on (re)connecting with the land; while also promoting the formal recognition of Indigenous land-based learning as a viable mode of learning. Funding supports programming offered off-campus in Indigenous community spaces and on-campus by the Wampum Learning Lodge. Funding also allows Indigenous students to engage in learning opportunities offered in First Nations, such as their home communities, or through urban community organizations.
Through access to traditional, land-based learning initiatives across Turtle Island, students are growing their sense of interconnection and belonging by developing an increased understanding of citizenship and nationhood that is grounded in relationships with Indigenous Knowledge Holders and Indigenous ways of knowing.
Students were directly involved in both program design and development. Post-activity reflections gave students the opportunity to share their interests and grow transferable skills. As a result of offering land-based learning programming, Indigenous community members now view the Wampum Learning Lodge as a place to host their own land-based learning initiatives. Faculty are utilizing the Lodge for land-based learning courses, and the medicine garden is now a designated Living Lab. Students are also utilizing the equipment purchased to support land-based learning programming beyond the original intention.
This initiative makes space for students to share the land-based knowledge they already have with each other. As a result of the initiative’s success, the model will be included in future programs and aims to be a permanent feature of the Indigenous student experience at Western. Learnings from the program will be used to develop partnerships with other areas of the University and within the local Indigenous communities and organizations.
In summary...
- 22 students (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) engaged in the Wampum Learning Lodge’s first annual maple boil.
- 8 Indigenous students and 5 of their friends/family members engaged in cultural programming at 13 Moons Land Based Learning Camp in Oneida Nation of the Thames over Fall Reading Week 2023.
- 2 Indigenous students accessed the individual Land-based Learning fund to participate in their community’s land-based learning opportunities.
- Community partnership established with 13 Moons Land-based Learning Camp
- Teaching tipi and other equipment acquired to continue regular cultural and ceremonial activities on campus beyond the funding period.
- 8 students engaged in Land as Research in the Head and Heart Indigenous Research Fellowship.
- 10 students participated in an ash basket workshop February 2024.
- 18 Indigenous people (Indigenous students and their invited guests) attended 13 Moons Land-based Learning Camp on Winter Reading Week 2024.
- ReconciliACTION Day of Learning – Land, Reconciliation & Climate was hosted on March 19, 2024.
