Things like picking muskeg tea leaves or skinning moose aren’t out-of-place in land-based learning programs.
Bert Fox Community High School in Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., operated through the Prairie Valley School Division, offers a land-based learning program at the Grade 10 level, according to principal Julie Stiglitz. She said the learning encompasses science, wildlife management, English language arts and native studies.
Phillip Brass teaches some of the students in the learning from the land program. He called it a work in progress in terms of marrying the teachings with the provincial curriculum.
Karen Morin teaches both Cree and the land-based education programs at the school on Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.
Morin said almost everything the youth are learning through land-based education has practical life applications. For example, kids who learn how to make moose hide also learn about math and science. “It comes with a lot of measurements, like the size of the frame, the size of the moose hide, that could easily fit into math and the scraping of the flesh, and after you scrape the flesh, you dry the hide, all that stuff would fit into science,” Morin said.
Kirsten Catarat teaches the land-based education program at the Buffalo River School, in Dillon Sask., roughly 366 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert. Buffalo River School’s education program also works to connect students with elders according to Catarat. As a way to rebuild language connections, while reconnecting students with the land, elders and community members are brought in to work with the youth.