Give

Building Relationships with Land: Bushkids Initiative

Shared Voices 2020 Bushkids Initiative

By Chloe Dragon Smith, Land Relationships Specialist, Bushkids

Bushkids is an outdoor learning initiative based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It was co-founded by myself and Wendy Lahey. Bushkids is fundamental to building relationships with Land, which we see as a cultural shift needed to address the broken relationships with Land that have led to the symptom of climate change.

For me, the initiative came from my own upbringing. Sézi Chloe Dragon Smith súlyé. Dënendeh ts’į?ást’į. Sé ts’í ?amá Brenda Dragon hulyé, Sé ts’í ?abá Leonard Smith hulyé. My journey of connection with Nature began long ago with respect for those who came before me. My Dënesųłiné ancestors lived seasonally and travelled: north of Great Slave Lake up to the tundra, and south of Fort Smith into northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. They are my maternal lineage and the two closest are my own mother, Brenda Dragon, and her mother, Jane Dragon. Within my memory, this story begins with them. My mother and grandmother placed value on raising me with a connection to our culture and to Land, just as their mothers did before them. For me, Bushkids is an expression of my life journey to share my gratitude with others. I believe that connecting children with the Land is central to healthy societies, and all the work we do needs to be underpinned by this basic essential foundation.

At Bushkids, we have two guiding principles. The first is Land-based learning, meaning we recognize that the Land is our greatest teacher. Land in the NWT has shaped Peoples, cultures, languages and knowledge since time immemorial. Building relationships with Land is essential to learning and always has been. Land, Peoples and relationships always come first at Bushkids.

The second principle is embodied by a term called ethical space. Ethical space is a way of saying we practice balancing Indigenous worldviews with the mainstream system in the NWT, which due to colonization is largely based in Euro-Western philosophies today. When working within a balanced frame, we can discover the best of both systems, and how they can work together in true balance for optimal and appropriate place-based learning – for everyone.

Our vision is for all educators in the NWT to spend time connecting with Nature, family and community as an integrated part of their practice. This way of being supports healthy relationships with ourselves, each other and the Land. In the future, we would like to see other communities thriving with their own initiatives that are true to local contexts, and see regular outdoor learning in public education everywhere that is self-determined by Lands and Peoples.

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the President

    By Lars Kullerud

  2. Editorial

    By Outi Snellman

  3. Letter from Monaco

    By HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

  4. Climate Action – A Need for Policy

    By Pekka Haavisto

  5. Russia’s Ten Priorities in the Arctic

    By Alexander V. Krutikov

  6. Learning from the Crisis: Issues in Strengthening Online Learning for the Future

    By Diane Hirshberg and Paul Wasko

  7. Step Up and Take Climate Leadership

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  8. Multidisciplinary Research as Climate Action

    By Annika Granebeck and Nina Kirchner

  9. It Takes a Village: University of New Hampshire Students Spur Climate Change Research to Action

    By Colleen Flaherty, Rebecca Irelan and Cameron Wake

  10. Exploring Arctic Policy from an Inuit Perspective

    By Nadine C. Fabbi, Michelle Koutnik, Ellen Ahlness and Elizabeth Wessells

  11. Stories from the Ice: A History of Arctic Climate and Environmental Change Told in Ice Cores

    By Karl Kreutz, Cameron Wake, Erich Osterberg and Alison Criscitiello

  12. Student story: Anna-Katri Kulmala

  13. UArctic Annual Report 2019

  14. Understanding Climate Change Through Storytelling, Culture, and Art

    By Aaluk Edwardson, Maleah Wenzel, Sabena Allen, Shelbi Fitzpatrick and Melody Brown Burkins

  15. Many a Little Makes a Mickle: Coastal Studies Students and Staff Take Action Against Marine Litter

    By Catherine Chambers and Astrid Fehling

  16. Our Plastic Ocean, Our Clean Ocean: Art as a Catalyst to Build Understanding

    By Herminia Din

  17. Worlds in Motion – The National Museums of World Culture, Sustainability and the Future

    By Sofie Öberg Magnusson and Martin Schultz

  18. Voluntourism in the Faroe Islands: A Sustainable Nordic Tourism Model

    By Jonathan Wood

  19. Northern Nursing Students Raising Awareness and Spreading Knowledge on Climate Actions

    By Kathie Pender, Donald Leidl and Bente Norbye

  20. Smart Societies and Arctic Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges

    By Nadezda Nazarova, Evgenii Aleksandrov and Anatoli Bourmistrov

  21. Shortening the Time from Observing to Decision-making in the Arctic

    By Olivia Lee and Finn Danielsen

  22. “Breath of the North”: A Literary Portrait of Jean Malaurie

    By Jan Borm

  23. Climate Change – Key Challenge of Arctic Herders’ Livelihoods and Cultures

    By Alena Gerasimova, Svetlana Avelova, Mikhail Pogodaev, Anatoly Zhozhikov, Anders Oskal and Svein D. Mathiesen

  24. Alumni Testimonials from the Model Arctic Council

Back