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Off-the-grid learning: University course takes back-to-the-land approach to Indigenous culture studies

University of Sudbury course sees students spend 10 days in the bush to learn more about Mother Nature, and themselves

Most university courses take part between four walls and generally involve a lot of reading.

But from Aug. 16-25, a group of 25 students will participate in a 10-day University of Sudbury Indigenous Studies course that takes place in the great outdoors and offers hands-on learning.

The six-credit course, entitled "Living With the Land: Indigenous Knowledge in Theory and Practice," is offered at a camp north of Elliot Lake, on Serpent River First Nation land.

Experiential learning including medicine walks, traditional teachings, nightly sharing circles, meditation, cooking activities and outdoor workshops are all on the curriculum.

Students do have to write a course paper in which they explore personal insights derived from the teachings.

The course is held in a remote area with no cellphone service. That's a big bonus as far as teacher Michael Hankard is concerned.

“What it does for a lot of young people that are used to texting all the time and being on social media all the times is it allows them to sit and actually talk to people,” said Hankard, a professor in the University of Sudbury's Indigenous Studies program.

“I think it offers them value in terms of life skills, in terms of being able to form a relationship with themselves, but also with other people, and once they do that they can begin to connect with the land.”

Since 2012 when it was first offered, Hankard said the course has mostly attracted non-Indigenous students, and aims to combat "colonialism" by changing students' perceptions of First Nations people. 

“It really builds understanding,” Hankard said.

Stepfanie Johnston, who took the course three years ago, said it was a “transformative” life experience.

The 2018 graduate of Laurentian University's Indigenous Studies program said she has Anishinaabe and Métis ancestry, and grew up in Elliot Lake and the Serpent River First Nation.

“I feel like it meant a lot more to me because I was on my own traditional land,” Johnson said.

“You're sitting outside and you're having to reflect on what you're learning. Basically, I reflected a lot on how I was living on the land and how I wanted to make changes to be a better person living on the land, more so living with the land.”

Johnston did some master's work in anthropology at the University of Toronto this past year and starts medical school at McMaster University this month.

She said she will take her experiences in the Living With The Land course forward with her in her medical studies and future career.

That includes listening skills developed through the course, as well as a sense of the part nature has to play when it comes to health.

“A lot of times, people who grow up in the city aren't really aware of nature so much or how it affects our health and mental well-being,” she said.

“We have to take care of Mother Earth, because she doesn't need us, we need her to live.”


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Heidi Ulrichsen

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