Touch the Land

Odette Auger/Cortes Currents - looks at an IndigenEYEZ training series: The intention of Touch the Earth land-based leadership training is to support front line workers in bringing youth out on the land in a way that is fun and engaging, and nurturing. We talk a lot about returning children to the centre of the community, and acknowledge it takes a community to raise a child. And I invite us to think of that community as also being our relations on the land. Our four legged, and two legged, and the plants, and medicines… and simply being on the land is a nurturing experience, on its own. A lot of times the land-based programs that I’ve witnessed have a focus more on teaching rather than on building and strengthening the relationship we have with our relatives. And so, we include all aspects of revitalizing and the resurgence of our land based knowledge and wisdom. But, where we start is around simply allowing ourselves to sit in silence, and notice and be curious, using more of our senses. Opening up our minds, our bodies and our spirits to how the land can help heal us and strengthen us.