Learning Story – Land as our friend
The Week of February 18th, 2025
What Happened?
The Bushkids were very excited to be back together after a two month pause in the program. We were also thrilled to welcome some new friends to Bushkids. This led to our inquiry of the day: How can we be a good friend to each other and to the Land?
We heard:
“We can invite them to play.”
“We can show them around.”
“We can tell them how to stay safe”
They were curious about how the Land can be their friend. Later on in the day, while we were on a walk, we asked the Bushkids to walk quietly along the trail, so that they could notice what was around them. When we did our closing circle, we asked what they had noticed. Was this a way that the Land was being their friend?
We heard:
“I noticed wolf tracks.”
“Wind in the clouds. They were wavy and making lines.”
“A lot of snow”
“Grass poking out of the snow. Cowboy grass.”
“The wind is going towards the sun.”
“Rolling down the mountain was so fun.”
“Snow angels.”
Why is it Important?
It is important to begin to view the Land as our friend, because we want to shift from viewing the Land as an object to viewing it as a part of us. We are taught that we come from Land.. If we view the Land as an object, as ‘it’, then we have less of a responsibility and stewardship for the Land. We want to foster a deep respect for the Land and develop a relationship with the Land that will lead to a motivation and desire to care for the Land as we would care for a dear friend.
What Does This Mean For Next Time?
During our last session before Christmas, we ended the day with the On The Land Prayer. We reintroduced the prayer today and hope to learn it with the Bushkids. This prayer is meant to be open to all belief systems and focuses on what we can be thankful for – what the Land is always giving us that we might take for granted. We will continue to notice how the Land can be our friend and take the time to use Tłı̨chǫ Yatıı̀ to share gratitude for this.
Se Nǫ̀htsı̨ dı̀ı dzęę̀ k’e gok’ènendı̀.
Hazǫǫ̀ ha ması̀ nets’ı̨ı̨whǫ
gòet’ı̨ı̨ = our families
gokǫ̀ = our homes
gonèk’e = our land
tı = water
kǫ̀ = fire
nı̨hts’ı = air
tı̨ts’aàdı̀ı = animals
ı̨t’ǫ̀ą dehshee = plants
hazǫǫ̀ ha wet’à ts’eęda.
Hotı hǫt’e nı̨dè.