Content area
Full Text
In this article we discuss the interconnectivity of Indigenous people, their cultures, and ways of life with the land and the idea that the health and well-being of Indigenous children, their communities, and ultimately their Nations arise from their connection with the land and from a strength of culture that grows from this connectivity. We argue further that these connections, leading to a holistic understanding of health, are intrinsically linked to education.
The premise of this article begins in story. It begins with an idea that we both hold true: that teachings flow from stories, that embedded in the acts of telling and listening to stories there exists virtually unlimited potential for learning. So this article begins with a story that was relayed by Mary Thomas, a Shuswap Elder who is a teacher, a learned grandmother, and a close friend of one of us.
On a warm spring day I went to the mountain with Mary. The twists and turns of the road that leads to the mountain climbed past beautiful homes nestled in trees, and as the road wound upwards, Mary described the way the mountain once looked when there were no dwellings, when the mountain was just home to plants and animals. Finally, the road ended and was transformed into nothing but a thin dirt trail. An eagle soared overhead, and we stood in peace and solitude.
In her quiet voice, Mary described the way it once was on this mountain top when there were only the trees and the lake and the little trails that wound their way up the landscape. Over 80 years ago, as a child, Mary had walked these trails with her Grandmother. Her Grandmother taught Mary about the land, about a forest fire that had crossed the valley, leaving the charred remains of what was once a magnificent forest. When Mary stopped speaking we stood silently. Mary's energy, born of the land, flowed and enveloped me; it touched the very depths of my being.
And when Mary began to speak again, safety and peace emanated from her words. She looked across the landscape, ravaged with change and the imposition of people, and she said slowly: "My Grandmother told me, don't be afraid to cry; it means...