Robert Michon | Communications Specialist , ARTA Ashley Feldberg and Alana Schamber | Photos

Outside a small teepee in the woods of central Alberta , about twenty children , ages 7 to 13 , gather around a fire that they had made with only materials provided by nature : cattails as tinder and friction for a spark . Warm and sheltered from the wind , they use hand-carved wooden spoons to gobble down môso-mîcimâpoy that they spent the afternoon preparing themselves . While they eat , a knowledge-keeper tells them stories from the Plains Cree tradition — stories , they all know , that have a deeper purpose than the entertainment they provide .

This might sound like a scene from an Indigenous Canadian history book , but it ’ s actually the experience of a present-day group of students in the Wetaskiwin area , some Indigenous , some not , all taking part in a style of education that goes back thousands of years : land-based learning .

Land-based learning begins with the belief that the earth itself is humanity ’ s first and greatest teacher . By learning to live in concert with the lands and waters around us , we can learn not just to survive but to thrive . The land can teach us about ourselves , our history , about the importance of responsibility and community . It ’ s a style of education that retired educator Bob Silverthorne has been imparting upon younger generations for his whole career , and something he continues to be passionate about in his retirement .

As a Plains Cree knowledge-keeper , Silverthorne hosts eight-week courses for children in the area , covering the four main tenets of living off the land : creating fire , building shelter , gathering water , and learning to feed oneself . But it ’ s not survivalist training . Each practical , hands-on lesson comes with a teaching that connects with a more broad , rounded curriculum .

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