Renewal, the second book in the Footbridge series, guides K-12 educators in bringing Indigenous voices and the philosophy, principles, and practices of Indigenous land-based education into their teaching. This text encourages educators to:
- respectfully renew their own relationships with land
- directly engage students with the land, no matter where they are located
- guide students in learning through observation, listening, and discussion and to take action in response
- honour diverse ways of knowing and being
- understand historic injustices and engage with the contemporary Land Back movement
Through critical engagement with diverse written and visual works created by Indigenous leaders, land defenders, scholars, and Knowledge Keepers, experienced educators Christine M'Lot and Katya Adamov Ferguson support readers in connecting with Indigenous perspectives on land and water. They offer guidance on bringing Indigenous works into the classroom, including concrete ways to facilitate discussions around land-based topics, advice for land-based activities, and suggestions for how students can engage with these topics through inquiry learning.
In this resource, you will find:
- prompts for individual reflection and group discussion
- valuable concepts and methods that can be applied in the classroom and beyond
- practical action steps and resources for educators, parents, librarians, and administrators
Use this book as a springboard for your own learning journey or as a lively prompt for dialogue within your professional learning community.
Bear, Dakota: -
Dakota Bear is a Treaty 6 Cree hip-hop artist, activist, and clothing designer. His melodic rhymes carry stories of Indigenous Peoples across Canada, leaving listeners enlightened and inspired by his music and message. His work with Idle No More, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Peoples, and the Global Climate Strike has intertwined his music with international social justice movements and connected him with fans across the country.
Beeds, Tasha: -
Dr. Tasha Beeds is an Indigenous scholar of nêhiyaw, Scottish-Métis, and Bajan ancestry. She activates from connected roles: as a mother, kôhkom, creative artist, poet, Water Walker, and Midewiwin woman from Minweyweywigaan Lodge out of Roseau River First Nations and Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve. Her work celebrates Indigeneity, promoting Indigenous nationhood and sovereignty as well as protection of the Land and Waters by carrying Indigenous Ancestral legacies forward for future generations.
Carrière, Réal: -
Réal Carrière is Nehinuw (Swampy Cree) and Métis from Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. He was home-schooled and grew up on the land, with no road access, running water, or electricity. His current research focuses on Nehinuwak political theories, Indigenous methodology, and Indigenous political representation. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba in Political Studies, with a specific focus on Indigenous politics. He is passionate about canoeing, storytelling, Indigenous knowledge, and social justice.
Ewanchuk, Shirli: -
Shirli Ewanchuk is from Swan Lake First Nation in Manitoba. As a Bear Clan member, her main responsibilities are understanding and working with ceremony, plant medicines, and the creation of healing spaces, while also undertaking peacekeeping and reconciliation work. She has worked alongside First Nations people at the community, tribal, and political levels, allowing her to connect to, form relationships with, and learn from community Knowledge Keepers. Shirli has created 30 health, healing, and education programs, and plans to continue creating such initiatives.
Ferland, Nicki: -
Nicki Ferland is a Two-Spirit Red River Métis mother, wife, aunty, and helper. She is an educator, writer, and researcher whose work focuses on Métis women and Two-Spirit people and their relationships with land in Winnipeg. Her parents are both descended from scrip-bearing Métis families with ancestral roots in St. Vital and St. Boniface (Winnipeg) and Lorette, Manitoba. Nicki is the Director of Land-Based Education and Indigenous Curriculum at the University of Manitoba and is currently working toward completing her PhD in Education.
Henhawk, Dan: -
Dan Henhawk is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. His research interests revolve around Western conceptualizations of leisure and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. He is interested in the tensions between leisure, neo-colonialism, decolonization, and issues of sustainability within recreation and leisure. Dan is Kanienké haka from the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Joudry, Shalan: -
Shalan Joudry is a L'nu (Mi'kmaw) mother, poet, and ecologist, as well as a playwright, podcaster, oral storyteller, actor, and cultural interpreter. She has published two books of poetry: Generations Re-merging (2014) and Waking Ground (2020). She lives with her family in their community of L'setkuk (Bear River First Nation, Nova Scotia), where she is focusing on reclaiming her Mi'kmaw/L'nu language.
Logan, Tricia: -
Tricia Logan is Assistant Professor in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and cross-appointed to the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. She is a Métis scholar with more than 20 years of experience working with Indigenous communities in Canada and has held roles at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Métis Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and the Legacy of Hope Foundation.
McKay (Merasty), Reanna: -
Reanna McKay (Merasty) (she/her/hers) is Ininew from Barren Lands First Nation, completed her Master of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, and is an Architectural Intern at Number TEN Architectural Group. She also works with One House Many Nations as a Research Assistant on First Nations housing development, where her research focuses on reciprocity, Indigenous knowledge systems, and land-based pedagogy.
Rice, Brian: -
Dr. Brian Rice, an enrolled member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawá ke, Quebec, is a full professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. Over the past 30 years, Brian has been a teacher, an interim principal in an Indigenous-operated school, and an educator in various university faculties. He is the author of three books, including The Rotinonshonni: A Traditional Iroquoian History Through the Eyes of Teharonhia: wako and Sawiskera, a Choice Pick of the American Library Association.
Thomas, Peatr: -
Peatr Thomas is an Ininew and Anishinaabe self-taught visual artist from the Pimicikamak and Miskwewe Ziibi territories. Peatr shares his knowledge and culture through his art, which blends traditional teachings and stories with contemporary painting skills and practices. Street art helped him find his voice as he adjusted to city life after leaving the reserve, and he hopes to give youth the same inspiration he felt looking at colourful murals many years ago.
Webb-Campbell, Shannon: -
Shannon Webb-Campbell is a poet, writer, and critic of Mi'kmaq and settler heritage. She is the author of Still No Word (2015), which received Egale Canada's Out in Print Award, and I Am a Body of Land (2019). Shannon is pursuing her PhD at the University of New Brunswick in the Department of English. She is a member of Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation and lives in Kjipuktuk/Halifax in Mi'kma'ki.
