Young recently facilitated a fish skin-tanning workshop, wherein participants embarked on a multi-day process of working with the skin to eventually turn it into fish leather.

“Students descaled the fish skin, prepared tanning solutions and took them home to change solutions over the course of five days. When students brought their fish skins back, we discussed how their relationship with the fish changed—there were some really interesting conversations that came out of it,” she says.

That experience was made possible because of Young’s involvement with the Land and Water program at the University of Manitoba, both in her role as the program coordinator and as a current Métis graduate student studying Métis fishing methodologies.

Offered by Community Engaged Learning, the program brings together students, community members, knowledge carriers and Elders for immersive urban land-based experiences like the fish-tanning workshop. Using a decolonizing approach to education, it provides the opportunity for participants to learn about Indigenous Peoples’ enduring relationships with land and place.

While workshops vary from year to year, past activities have included guided medicine walks through urban forests, building a sweat lodge, beading and rattle-making. The 2023-2024 cohort is exploring Indigenous land-based knowledge systems from a seasonal lens. “In terms of the outcomes we consider when planning the program, we focus on learning on, from and about the land,” says Young.

Though most of the Land and Water program is geared toward Indigenous UM students, other members of the UM Indigenous community and broader Indigenous communities are welcome to attend open events like their walk-and-talk series around the Fort Garry campus.

“Part of what we’re doing is helping students develop a critical lens around land and place, and teaching them to be self-reflexive about their relationships with land, place and Indigenous knowledges,” says Nicki Ferland, a Two-Spirit Métis land-based educator with Community Engaged Learning. “By hosting these activities on campus and in the city, we’re challenging those narratives on what is authentically Indigenous—this is all Indigenous land, and we can all learn from and about the plants and animals in the city.”

“It’s been super impactful for me as a student and my own identity, in beginning to see urban land as Indigenous land and my ancestral connections to this place that have spanned generations,” adds Young. “I’d really love for participants to see and build relationships with the city. There is lots of rich history, like the intersection of the Red River and Assiniboine River as a meeting place.”

The program not only considers what students need to learn, but also the community’s needs on a larger scale. Beyond gaining knowledge and practical skills, participants grow connections and learn how to learn on the land together, often in new experiential ways.

“We’re building strong relationships with each other as well as with the land and our ancestors,” says Young. “It’s great to see that relationship-building between students, Elders and knowledge carriers, and community. We’re starting to see relationships form and exist in community instead of only the university setting.”

“It’s important that students have the opportunity to learn on the land, and we want to meet students’ own needs and interest in land-based education,” adds Ferland. “It’s a great entry-level program for students who want to learn more about their cultural identities and Indigenous knowledges.”

Visit the Community Engaged Learning webpage for more information about the Land and Water program.

In past years, the Land and Water Program has focused on Indigenous peoples enduring relationships with urban land and place, the impacts of a gender binary on the land and learners, Indigenous food sovereignty, plant identification, climate change, and more. This year, Land and Water will explore Indigenous land-based knowledges through the seasons.

Indigenous Land and Place-Making

The program, which aims to foster participants’ sense of belonging on urban land and on campus, kicks off in the fall with a walk and talk on Tuesday, October 4. The walk – a drop-in opportunity open to all students – will focus on Indigenous Land and Place-Making on the Fort Garry Campus.  To join, meet up in front of Migizii Agamik (114 Sidney Smith St.) at 3:00 p.m. Let us know if you are coming!

What, when, who and how much

During the fall, winter and spring seasons, the Land and Water program will offer an in-person land-based experience and virtual workshops. The monthly programming is generally offered in the evenings and on weekends; participants’ schedules will be taken into consideration when setting the calendar.

The program is free of charge and open to all students and urban Indigenous youth (over 18). Indigenous and 2S/LGBTQIA+* youth and students are strongly encouraged to apply. Domestic and international students, full- and part-time students, graduate and undergraduate students, and others may apply.

Learn more about the Land and Water Program here. Inquiries can be directed to landandwater [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Join the team

Apply now. Applications close at 11:59 p.m. on October 10.

Community Engaged Learning offers programs and workshops for students interested in applying their knowledge outside the classroom and gaining relevant hands-on experience in the community.

“Land-based education is about learning on, about and from the land,” explains Ferland. “It is about seeing the land as our teacher, putting our relationships with the land and each other at the centre of learning, and recognizing that everyone has something to offer.

“While it is inherently Indigenous, land-based learning should not be pan-Indigenous,” Ferland adds. “Too often we see people blending teachings and symbols from Anishinaabe, Cree and Métis paradigms. The Anishinaabe Seven Sacred Teachings are an example. Other nations have their own stories and teachings that are going to be relevant to their place and environment.”

“Land-based education is about learning on, about and from the land. It is about seeing the land as our teacher, putting our relationships with the land and each other at the centre of learning, and recognizing that everyone has something to offer.”

Ferland is a Two-Spirit Red River Métis with deep roots in Manitoba’s Lorette and Winnipeg’s St. Vital communities. She has a background in human and Indigenous rights, and just completed her Master of Education in Indigenous land-based education at the University of Saskatchewan.

Ferland leads workshops for UM educators on how to incorporate land-based learning into their courses—each one co-facilitated by Indigenous staff advisors. “My way of knowing is Métis,” Ferland explains. “I couldn’t possibly teach the knowledge system of a community I don’t belong to. So I work with Anishinaabe, Dakota or Cree Elders and Knowledge Holders to bring in their own teachings.”

Students learning on and from the land at Bannock Point with Elder Diane Maytwayashing in 2019

Most of the faculty and staff taking Ferland’s workshops are non-Indigenous, with little background in land-based education. Jillian Seniuk Cicek, assistant professor in the Centre for Engineering Professional Practice and Engineering Education, is one of them. She teaches technical communication to engineering students.  

“When I joined UM’s faculty in 2018, I was thinking about how Indigenous Peoples and their worldviews were present, or not, in our academic spaces,” she explains. “Fast forward a couple of years and I was involved in several projects incorporating Indigenous Knowledges into engineering courses, supported by the UM Indigenous Initiatives Fund. But I still didn’t really understand what land-based learning was.”

So when Seniuk Cicek heard that Ferland was offering a land-based learning workshop in December 2021, she jumped at the chance. The two-hour online workshop was an introduction to land-based learning for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, exploring ways to integrate it into the classroom.  

Sharing teachings on the land with Elders Charlotte Nolin and Barbara Bruce (Two-Spirit Sundance Grounds)

For Seniuk Cicek, “The most important thing I learned [from the workshop] was that land-based learning is different from outdoor or environmental education. It is about the land as teacher — a fundamentally Indigenous pedagogy that’s tied to an Indigenous worldview, conducted in partnership with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Holders.”

“…Land-based learning is different from outdoor or environmental education. It is about the land as teacher — a fundamentally Indigenous pedagogy that’s tied to an Indigenous worldview, conducted in partnership with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Holders.”

Seniuk Cicek is still working on how to integrate land-based learning into her curriculum. She is especially inspired by her colleague Randy Herrmann’s teaching of the construction of the teepee. “The teepee is a design marvel,” explains Seniuk Cicek. “Indigenous people were engineers, long before the colonial model of engineering came along. Teepees need to be constructed with an Elder, who provides guidance throughout its construction.”

Ferland’s next land-based learning workshop takes place this summer—in-person and on the land. It will be co-facilitated by Leah Fontaine, who is Dakota/Anishinaabe/Métis and Jeri Ducharme, who is Métis. Both work as Indigenous initiatives educators in the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, helping graduate students and faculty incorporate Indigenous content and pedagogies into their curriculum.

They’re taking a group of staff and faculty to UM’s Fort Garry campus to talk about its Indigenous history. Instructors can then take this knowledge and share it with their students, which Ferland says is important for building respectful relationships. “There used to be Red River Métis homes, farms and significant sites here,” she explains. “Where did those people go? How did this become a university campus?”

Archive photo of students taking part in a smudging ceremony (Lower Fort Garry)

Ferland is particularly interested in urban land-based learning, which makes her workshops particularly relevant to UM students, faculty and staff.

“Winnipeg was built on existing Indigenous communities, so this is a perfect place for urban land-based education. We can talk about what it means to live on the land today—to live in the city and go into the bush. We can address the myth that the city is not Indigenous land, and the fallacy that urban Indigenous peoples are less than their rural counterparts.”

Ferland also runs an eight-month land-based course called Land and Water: Land-based Education for UM students, prioritizing those who are Indigenous. They spend time with Elders and Knowledge Holders, engage in ceremonies, and learn about Indigenous peoples’ enduring relationships with the land. Indigenous youth aged 18–35 who are not enrolled at UM are also encouraged to apply.

Dan Henhawk is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management. He comes from the Six Nations of the Grand River and is Mohawk. His work focuses on colonialism’s impact on sport and recreation in Indigenous contexts. His interest in land-based education coincides with his own reconnections to his culture.

“In 2020, I was honoured to speak to the participants of the Land and Water program,” says Henhawk. “It was such a great experience to get to know students outside of the formal class-room setting. I was able to gain valuable insight from the students about their understanding of land-based education, and address their questions and concerns about land-based learning and Indigenous knowledge.”

Exploring the fossil record in the Tyndall stone at The Forks

Land-based learning means engaging with Indigenous people and communities. Fortunately, Ferland and her colleagues Anny Chen and Gerardo Villagrán have developed a framework to support university-Indigenous community partnerships called Working in Good Ways.

“We realized that we weren’t always doing the best job,” explains Ferland. “Even those of us with lots of experience with Indigenous community engagement can cause harm. We knew there were better ways of working, communicating and relating with Indigenous community partners.”

Over a three-year period, Ferland’s team consulted with nearly 100 partners, practitioners and students, the majority of whom are Indigenous. They organized what they learned into seven principles for community engagement. They then offered a series of workshops on the Working in Good Ways framework, many of which Seniuk Cicek also attended and, with the help of Ferland, incorporated into the Decolonizing and Indigenizing Engineering course.

According to Seniuk Cicek, “I am deeply grateful to have Indigenous colleagues like Nicki Ferland, Leah Fontaine, Jeri Ducharme and Randy Herrmann, who are experts in their fields. They are so supportive, generous and gentle, and willing to learn and teach from their own experiences. I know that I need to do this work in a way that is authentic, respectful and reciprocal—and, above all, for the right reasons and with a good heart. Nicki, Leah, Jeri and Randy have taught me that.”

Learn more about how to make land-based learning a part of your courses. The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is offering a workshop titled Exploring Indigenous Experiential Place-Based Learning Opportunities in Winnipeg, facilitated by Leah Fontaine, M.A. (Indigenous initiatives educator), Jeri Ducharme (Indigenous initiatives educator), and Nicki Ferland, M.Ed. (community engaged learning coordinator, Indigenous). In this workshop, you will learn how to create experiential place-based learning opportunities for students, how to work on a lesson plan for your own course, and more. Register for teaching workshops at the Centre for Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

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Examples of past in-person and virtual programming has included a medicine walk through the urban Assiniboine Forest, making bannock and three sisters soup, an elder-led tour of the Bannock Point petroforms in Whiteshell Provincial Park, snow-shoeing and Indigenous games, a day trip to Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, beading, painting, moccasin-making, screen printing and more.  

During the Fall Term break (from November 6 to 14), the post-secondary team engages in a workshop series, “This is Indigenous Land,” a mix of virtual and in-person activities. Throughout the rest of the year, they participate in workshops, social events and other activities. From February to June, the post-secondary team co-facilitates monthly full-day land-based field trips for high school youth. The program concludes in June with an overnight camping trip, as COVID-19 policies allow. 

This program is free of charge and open to all students. Indigenous students are strongly encouraged to apply. The partnering high school student population is predominantly Indigenous. It’s important for the post-secondary team to share a cultural frame of reference with youth, and for Indigenous students and youth to have access and opportunities to engage in Indigenous land-based education.  

Learn more about the Land and Water Program here. Inquiries can be directed to Meghan.Young@umanitoba.ca. 

Applications are now open!  

Apply now. Interested Indigenous youth 18-35 external to the U of M are also encouraged to apply. CEL is accepting applications till October 15.  

Community Engaged Learning offers free local programs and international programs for students interested in applying their knowledge outside the classroom and gaining relevant hands-on experience in the community.