Land-Based Learning in the Greater Vancouver Area: Reasserting Indigenous Teaching on Katzie Territory

As the weather warms and the days get longer, we may be feeling the pull to return outside. For many, moving outside represents a journey away from home, from the familiar, from our culture and towards an “outside” space that represents rest, escape, or “wilderness”. Settler geographies understand home, society and knowledge as existing indoors in cities, houses, schools and workplaces. But for many Indigenous peoples, learning and education is rooted in place and relationships to land. Teachings about how to survive, how to move through the world and what it means to be human come from the land itself. 

For Indigenous Peoples, getting outside and on the land is often about more than recreation or a break from everyday activities. It is about returning to knowledge systems, ways of being and relationships that define who they are and their responsibilities in relation to territory. 

This is what Anishannabe writer and academic Leanne Betasamosake Simpson has described as “land as pedagogy”:

“A resurgence of Indigenous political cultures, governances and nation-building requires generations of Indigenous peoples to grow up intimately and strongly connected to our homelands, immersed in our languages and spiritualities, and embodying our traditions of agency, leadership, decision-making and diplomacy. This requires a radical break from state education systems –systems that are primarily designed to produce communities of individuals willing to uphold settler colonialism” (Simpson 2014)

At Len Pierre Consulting, our land-based learning opportunities invite communities, teams and organizations to step outside of traditional learning environments and enter into a different kind of classroom, one where the land itself becomes a teacher. 

For Indigenous learners, land-based learning can represent opportunities to reconnect with who they are, their knowledge systems and to resist colonial education systems that have long sought to devalue and sever their relationships with their territories. For non-Indigenous learners, land-based learning can foster transformative appreciation and respect for Indigenous lifeways, intelligence and leadership. For these reasons, land-based learning is an important practice with respect to the work of decolonization, Indigenous resurgence and reconciliation.

“The land carries teachings that PowerPoint slides never could.” -Richard Pierre

What follows below reflects a conversation between father and son, Elder Richard Pierre and Len Pierre of Katzie First Nation.

What is land-based learning?

Land-based learning is an Indigenous approach to education rooted in place, story, relationship, and lived experience. Participants are invited to learn through presence, observation, dialogue, movement, reflection, and connection to territory.

These experiences can include guided walks, place-based storytelling, teachings on Indigenous histories and relationships to territory, conversations about stewardship and reconciliation, and cultural teachings connected to water, salmon, cedar, medicines, wildlife, food systems, and seasonal practices.

Land-based learning creates space for people to listen differently. It asks learners to slow down, pay attention, and understand that knowledge is embedded in complex relationships all around us between human and non-human beings alike.

What it means to offer land-based learning on Katzie Territory

For Len and Elder Richard, these offerings are deeply connected to who they are as Coast Salish People. A feeling of grounding and deep sense of belonging comes alongside welcoming learners onto their ancestral lands. To teach on their territory is to take pride in where they come from and the responsibilities they carry. 

Learning within Katzie Territory is about being welcomed into a living relationship with place. It is about understanding that Indigenous history did not begin with colonization. It is about recognizing the depth of knowledge held in the land, water, plants, animals, stories, and seasonal cycles that continue to shape Coast Salish life.

Elder Richard brings knowledge shaped by lived experience as a hunter, fisherman, land-user, Elder, and Cultural Advisor. Rather than just being abstract theory, his teachings help participants understand Indigenous knowledge as a living tradition which is practiced through respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and care.

When participants learn directly on the land, the experience often becomes more grounded, emotional, and memorable. People are not only hearing about Indigenous knowledge systems — they are being invited to witness how they are practiced in context.

More than outdoor learning

Land-based learning is not simply a workshop moved outside. It is a different way of learning altogether.

In many professional settings, reconciliation is discussed in meeting rooms, boardrooms, classrooms, and virtual spaces. Those spaces can support important learning. But there are some teachings that land-based experiences can hold in a different way.

“The land slows people down enough to truly listen.” -Richard

On the land, people often become more present. Conversations become more relational. People have the opportunity to connect with one another outside of institutional walls. The learning moves through the mind, but also through the body, heart, and spirit.

What teams can expect

LPC’s land-based and cultural learning experiences are designed to be welcoming, accessible, and adaptable. No prior knowledge is needed. Participants are invited to come with openness, humility, and a willingness to listen.

Depending on the learning goals, sessions may include teachings on salmon, cedar, hunting, fishing, traditional food systems, environmental sustainability, First Nations governance, Indigenous games, or other cultural learning experiences grounded in Coast Salish knowledge.

These offerings can support leadership teams, health-care professionals, educators, government teams, corporate groups, youth groups, nonprofit organizations, and community partners who are seeking to deepen their understanding of Indigenous histories, knowledge systems, and responsibilities. In this way, they can also be supportive of relationship building and stronger cultural safety practice.

For organizations beginning or continuing their reconciliation journey, land-based learning offers something powerful: an opportunity to move from awareness into immersive, relational and felt understanding. 

“Land-based learning creates experiences that people carry with them long after the workshop ends.” -Len Pierre

Why this work matters today

Many people are feeling disconnected from the land, from community, from spirit, and sometimes from the deeper purpose of their work. At the same time, many organizations are looking for learning experiences that go beyond checkboxes and one-time training.

Land-based learning invites people into something deeper. It reminds us that reconciliation is not only something we talk about. It is something we practice through relationships with people, history, place, and with the responsibilities we carry within them.

For LPC, these offerings are part of a broader commitment to decolonization, cultural safety, and Indigenous resurgence. They are about creating opportunities for people to learn in ways that are grounded, relational, and transformative.

An invitation to learn differently

“The outdoors changes how people relate to one another, to themselves, and to the teachings.” -Len Pierre

As spring and summer open new opportunities to gather outside, Len Pierre Consulting welcomes organizations, teams, and communities to join us on the land.

These experiences are designed to support reflection, connection, dialogue, and transformation. They offer a chance to learn from Indigenous knowledge systems in a way that is respectful, relational, and rooted in place.

To learn more about LPC’s Land-Based Learning Experiences, explore here or contact to inquire about bookings.

References 

Simpson, L. B. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3), 1-25.