Week Six: Building Relationships Between Others and Nature

After reading this article, it became clear to me that reinhabitation and decolonization go hand in hand. This article demonstrated many ways in which they bring people together to connect and build relationships not only with each other but with nature as well. Creating audio documents about relations to the river and engaging in trips along the ricer were part of the decolonizing process. This allowed the younger generation to be able to be reintroduced to traditional ways of knowing. They were able to further their education by interviewing others with issues they had relating to the land, territory, language etc. It is clear that their land is very sacred to them, with having the river to travel is very important. The part that illustrated to me that they do not take their river for granted was the part when they discussed how every curve in the river has a name. This shows they appreciate the fact that they have this river and love every aspect of it. Finally, I found this to be an experimental educational opportunity as they were able to actually experience the river and the surrounding land. Although everyone was doing the same things on the trip, everyones experience was inevitably different. I think it is important that everyone can add to one another learning experiences and to be open minded in these educational opportunities. Everyone was able to share their experiences and knowledge with one another and inevitably, brought the community together.

I might adapt these ideas when I am teaching through teaching Indigenous studies and making Social Studies a prominent subject. I think it is vital for everyone to learn about people of this beautiful land and to understand how it all came to be. Ways I might begin to teach this, is by going on nature walks and just taking a moment to embrace nature and the environment. To build those relationships between others and nature. In ESCI my professor always enforces the idea that we can look but we must not touch. Meaning, we can admire and embrace nature, but we should leave it so its the natural environment. In other words, no man is leaving a trail. I plan to adapt these ideas through a variety of ways that I am sure in these next couple years of schooling I will figure out exactly how.