News

First Landbased Education Field Course at McGill

Published: 23 May 2018

We are very excited to announce that Gabrielle Iakotennikonhrare Doreen will be leading McGill's first ever landbased education field course this summer. Landbased education is rooted in the Indigenous belief that the land is our first teacher and by observing, listening, experiencing, and valuing all the earth offers us is a way for those who are present in that experience to learn what is necessary to sustain our lives (learn more about landbased education here). Therefore, courses that use a landbased pedagogy always vary based on the land and person who is teaching it, in this case the course focuses on the Haudensaunee-Kanien'kehá:ka worldview. Iakotennikonhrare is completing her masters in landbased education from the University of Saskatchewan, one of the primary leaders of bringing landbased education into the academy. Her class will be one of the first to focus on the worldview of the Rotinonhsón:nih, the Ohé:ten Karihwatéhkwen (Thanksgiving Address) and concepts of Skén:nen (peace), Kasastenshera (strength), and Kanikonhri:io (a good-mind). 

This course is critical to the Indigenous Studies program's aim of engaging our students with Indigenous Studies as a stand-alone field by introducing and contending with Indigenous knowledge systems and societies from within, in ways that promote the resurgence of these systems. Part of this course's importance is that it places an emphasis on distinct methodologies and expectations of Indigenous studies.

This class will be focused on getting outside (as long as the weather cooperates): getting out on to the water, doing a foraging food tour, trips to Kahnawake and Kanesatake, and an open air classroom on Mont Royal. 

INDG 200 is a prerequisite, though it can be substituted for an other INDG course or other courses that prove a sufficient engagement with Indigenous issue.

Registration is open on Minerva! Register today!

The course runs from June 5th until July 5th. New students are accepted until June 12th.

For more information please email indigenous.studies [at] mcgill.ca.

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