Helen Betty Osborne Ininew Resource Centre Land Based Program
Patrick Bergstrom leads the Senior Years (grades 9-12) Land Based Program while Doug Braden leads the Middle Years Land Based Program (grades 6-8) at Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre. We provide Land Based opportunities and teachings for students which revolve around the six seasons. These activities include goose blind etiquette/safety, Birch tree tapping, splitting wood, campfire building, shelter building (lean-to and quinzee), goose/duck plucking and singeing, bow and arrow construction, snow shoe construction, canoeing, trapping/snaring, skinning, fishing, ice fishing, etc.
A̱ka̱la Society
A̱ka̱la Outdoor Education Society
Uk̕wana̱lis, BC
Our purpose is to create land and water-based educational opportunities for Musgamakw Dzawada̱’enux̱w citizens.
We
Provide programming based on best practices to support mental and physical wellness
Facilitate leadership training
Teach outdoor skills that promote the safe use of Musgamakw Dzawada̱’enux̱w traditional territory
Provide certifications in the outdoor education field
The programs are delivered with a Musgamakw Dzawada̱’enux̱w worldview. Our traditional laws and values govern how we operate and deliver programs.
Values: A̱ka̱la Society is guided by the Musgamakw Dzawada̱’enux̱w law of maya̱’xala, a word that does not have an English language counterpart, but is akin to respect and reciprocity. Within maya̱’xala are values of gratitude and spirituality. We continue to learn how to weave maya̱’xala into our lives and programs, and understand that this will be a lifelong journey. No matter where you are in your understanding and practice of maya’xa̱la, you are welcome to join the A̱ka̱la ‘na̱myut.
Kitasoo/Xai’xais Community School SEAS Program
The purpose of the program is to ensure that all students learn and directly experience the cultural traditions of food gathering and harvesting of all the traditional resources available to Kitasoo Xai’Xais members. Students experience the full benefits of the sustainable resources as well as the meaning of inherent Indigenous rights that comes with membership
Bella Bella Community School SEAS Program
SEAS is a land-and-water-based education program at Bella Bella Community School, a Kindergarten to Grade 12 band-operated and certified Independent school in the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella. Our program began in 2011 and has grown to become an integral part of our school. There are also unique SEAS programs in some of our neighbouring communities.
SEAS connects our school community with mentors, knowledge holders, and experts, providing opportunities for students to learn about and directly experience the lands, waters, and seasonal harvest cycles of their traditional territories. These immersive experiences strengthen and uplift Heiltsuk youth as they develop into confident individuals, providers, and caretakers of their territory, culture, and community.
Bush Kids NWT
Based in Yellowknife, we provide training and mentorship to educators to bring their practice outdoors. We envision all educators in the NWT spending time connecting with nature and community as a regular and integrated part of their practice. Bushkids offers mentorships to teachers, with their students, to help them to feel comfortable implementing on-the-Land learning into their pedagogical approaches delivered in the public school system. Land led learning should be accessible to all children and youth. We are grounded in a Land-based philosophy where Indigenous and Euro-western world views co-exist in a mutually respectful and welcoming space (i.e. “ethical space”).