Kindergarten students at Rick Hansen P.S. learned more about medicinal plants and Indigenous connections to land through medicine walks in their community.
Teacher Grace Garlow consulted with community partners and collaborated with Joseph Pitawanakwat, Founder and Director, Creator's Garden to plan and participate in medicine walks. The walks invited Kindergarten students to explore and learn more about the environment around the school.
Students learned how plants in the area around their school can be used as medicine.
“The plants represent tremendous knowledge … and Indigenous people have been using them, been the caretakers of the knowledge of how to use all these different medicine plants. I just wanted to be able to give an opportunity so the kids are able to inquire a little bit more about all of the things that they’re passing in the forest and wonder what other supports are out there,” said Joseph Pitawanakwat, Founder and Director, Creators Garden.
“In this conversation we had, we spoke about how to students understand their relationships and reframing their relationship in connection to land and also wanting to revive Anishinaabemowin, so this project really looks at understanding the knowledge that emerges from land and how it is embedded in the language,” said Grace Garlow, teacher at Rick Hansen P.S.
“It’s important to take care of land because land will take care of us,” said Caroline, a Kindergarten student, Rick Hansen P.S.