First Nations People - "The Land"

"Always go back and visit the land, this creates a bridge between cultures."
"Immersion in landscape and territory is key to understanding who they were."

After the initial background learning and planning with the teachers and the mentor teacher was completed, the 3 month project began with a visit to the land. The teachers wanted the students to build a connection to the land before the students began exploring the Blackfoot, Stoney or T'Suu Tina.

Students from each of the schools went many times, during different seasons, to spend time experiencing the land through their senses and feelings. While visiting the land they spent time journaling and sketching bringing back images to the classroom. They also took digital pictures of the land that were to be used back in the classroom for reflective discussions that were planned. The next day back in the classroom, with the help of the mentor teacher, they shared their thoughts and feelings as a large group. From this discussion, they wrote their own personal thoughts and connections with the land and later they posted them to the website. (the Land of the Blackfoot, the Land of the Stoney, the Land of the T'Suu Tina). It is important to realize that the students experienced their own land and territory not knowing there were other schools involved and making no connection to native people. Then with the help of the mentor teacher and classroom teachers, they predicted what they were about to read. They were surprised that their predictions were not accurate and in some cases turned out to be the exact opposite. Viewing and discussing each other's entries on the website, they starting to look for similarities and differences in the discoveries that the students had made from each of the schools. They recorded and posted their thoughts. They were left with the thought of why could three schools with different kids and different landscapes feel so much the same. They began to wonder if it hand something to do with the feeling of being connected to the land and that the land belonged to them. They would investigate this further.