Indigenous Knowledge
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James Neill Last updated: 31 Oct 2006 |
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(Tim Corcoran, Headwaters Outdoor School) ContentsRites of passage in outdoor education A psycho-evolutionary theory of outdoor education An indigenous (Squamish) outdoor education program Call for indigenous perspectives in outdoor education Ancient land - current connections - Graham Ellis-Smith (2003) |
An indigenous (Squamish) outdoor education program"The teacher-elder Kee-lee-la whose name means butterfly met us at the train station. She explained how the Squamish people travelled either on foot or by canoe. She let us past a salmon stream and through woods lush with wild berries and fragile bleeding hearts. The students were very excited to see the huge Big House. The matriarch of the Squamish elders at the Big House, Kek-yik, met us. She welcomed everyone to Squamish land and she told us of the importance of the river for the Squamish people. Then shortly after the Name Giving Ceremony began, Kek-yik’s daughter Sunshine gave all the students and teachers a Squamish names like, wolf, bear, blueberry and story legend names like Wountie and that was the name I received. Also each student and teacher were placed in a family group: food gathers, wood workers, wool weavers, cedar bark workers, hunters, and fishers. To accept the family group and name each student and teacher did a dance with cedar boughs. Each family group gained different skills and awareness from the elders." (Elliot, n. d.)
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Call for indigenous perspectives in outdoor educationI am looking to connect with people and places exploring indigenous perspectives in outdoor education.
I have been spurred on recently by contact with Ricardo Sierra, writer, thinker, creator and director of the Earth Mentoring Institute and Hawk Circle Wilderness Center. Whilst in the US there are many nature-based and skill-based survival, tracking, hunting, etc. programs there is a surprising lack of connection with the adventure-based programming approaches. Many possible comings together of these approaches are yet to be discovered. Through Ricardo's thinking, programs, instructor trainings, and writings we can start to glimpse new and powerful possibilities for integrating indigenous knowledge and outdoor education.
Another inspiring person I've met along the journey of learning more about indigenous possibilities in outdoor education is Graham Ellis-Smith, who wrote an article called "Rediscovering Your Indigenous Heart" in the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education. Graham was a park ranger who become fascinated by Australian Aboriginal knowledge and ways of life. After completing a BA in Aboriginal Studies he was posted to work as a ranger in a remote region of Western Australia. As he got to know the local Aboriginal people, he was invited by them to understand their ways, their training, their rituals, their knowledge. They asked him to help others understand what they know. Read more in Ancient Land-Current Connections.
Today Graham runs some powerful workshops, including "Rediscovering Your Indigenous Heart" which helps people to reconnect with their indigeneity and indigenous knowledge and give them techniques for accessing the knowledge and power of themselves and their surrounding environment. I am interested to contact other people and places working with indigenous knowledge and ways it can be integrated with outdoor education.
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ReferencesElliott, S. (n. d.) Outdoor education [describes a grade 4 program to enhance understanding of native Squamish people]. Indigezine. |
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