Learning from Doodoom Aki (Mother Earth) through Children's Land-Based Play

Embrace the cycle of the seasons with children. Sit at the edge of the bush with Dr. Hopi Martin, Waabizheshi Oshkaabewis (Ojibwe Marten Clan Sacred Helper, Messenger, Fire Keeper, Lodge Caretaker) and educator, and bring a richer way of living with the land to the children in your care in this space of meeting between Indigenous and settler worldviews. Learn to consider child development and education more wholistically following an Anishinaabe Seasonal Pedagogy that has relevance to how learning happens for all Peoples and Nations. Listen to Dr. Martin’s lived experiences of learning from the land and her First Peoples with his own children and come into a deeper understanding of the natural pattern of children’s unstructured outdoor play as you learn to make connections and relationships with the land you live on.  

This specific knowledge sits at the “edge of the bush,” the traditional domain of Waabizheshii Doodem (Marten/Provider/Warrior Clan), at the natural meeting place between Peoples/Nations around the Great Lakes of Mishiikenh Minissing (Turtle Island/North America). While this Bush Knowledge can only be learned by physically coming into relationship with this Sacred Territory between worlds, what is shared here is an introduction to the Seasonal Pedagogy and how it can guide educators and families back into relationship with the land through children’s unstructured, land-based play. Re-establishing these reciprocal and respectful relationships with ourselves, our families, our communities, our Nations offers a pathway towards truth and reconciliation with Doodoom Aki (Mother Earth), Dede Giizhig (Father Sky), and all of our relations in all Four Directions.