Learning from the land: Indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization

By Matthew Wildcat, Mandee McDonald, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Glen Coulthard, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, & Society, Vol 3, No 3 (2014)

This paper introduces the special issue of Decolonization on land-based education. We begin with the premise that, if colonization is fundamentally about dispossessing Indigenous peoples from land, decolonization must involve forms of education that reconnect Indigenous peoples to land and the social relations, knowledges and languages that arise from the land. An important aspect of each article is then highlighted, as we explore the complexities and nuances of Indigenous land-based education in different contexts, places and methods. We close with some reflections on issues that we believe deserve further attention and research in regards to land-based education, including gender, spirituality, intersectional decolonization approaches, and sources of funding for land-based education initiatives.