What does land mean to Aboriginal people?

Non-Indigenous people and land owners might consider land as something they own, a commodity to be bought and sold, an asset to make profit from, but also a means to make a living off it or simply ‘home’.  They ‘develop’ land, as if it was unfinished or raw.

(Aboriginal People) have a profound spiritual connection to land. Aboriginal law and spirituality are intertwined with the land, the people and creation, and this forms their culture and sovereignty.

The health of land and water is central to their culture. Land is their mother, is steeped in their culture, but also gives them the responsibility to care for it. They “feel the pain of the shapes of life in country as pain to the self”.

 Teachings from a

Trout Lake Trapper

Kaaren Dannenman’s  workshop “Gifts from the Moose” incorporates some of the teachings she shares with students in her trappers courses. People who attend this workshop come away with a deeper respect for our relationship to the web of life.  Learn more

For Anishinaape People … the words “my,” “our,” “your,” “his,” or “hers” are not about ownership or possession but about a relationship… That this relationship includes those with whom we share … home – ―our aunts, cousins, etc., the moose, bear, gulls, ravens, mice, moles, flies, mosquitoes, fish, the trees, the grass and rocks, etc., etc. That this relationship is characterized by a spirituality and sacredness, an intimate knowledge and huge reciprocal respect and reverence where we all know our rights and responsibilities. This very amazing relationship involves a give and take that requires consciousness and constant nurturing… interconnectedness of time and space and love. ~ Kaaren