Kokoms Family Wellness Centre 

Connecting Families Back to the Land Through Land Based Teachings

The Kokoms Wellness Retreat Centre will offer lessons that the learner will use for the remainder of their life. and Tthe retreat centre will offer an environment where the learner is supported and safe.Families will be supported through the Land while they are hosted at the Wellness Retreat Centre and they will be participating daily in Land-based activates as our Ancestors did.

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Background and Significance

To reconcile means to make room for one another so that we may create a new dialogue that offers a brighter future for our children. Reconciliation involves building a connection and relationship with Mother Earth, and acknowledging and sharing Indigenous ways of knowing, honouring treaties, and creating an open dialogue that facilitates sharing the history and culture of the First Peoples of this land. Indigenous people overall have higher rates of chronic disease, and Youth, in particular, are pre-disposed to higher health problems due to complex issues that include intergenerational trauma and colonization (Ferguson et al., 2021). Furthermore, Blackstone (2009) asserts that problems such as global warming, world conflict and cultural differences can be “enlightened by respectfully embracing Indigenous knowledge.

Connecting to cultural identity has been shown to increase Indigenous sense of belonging and identity (Fast, et al., 2021; Hansen, 2018; Hatala et, al), and land and nature have been shown to support Indigenous health and wellbeing (Hansen, 2018). Also, positive cultural identity can positively impact Indigenous health and wellness (Ferguson et al., 2021), and there is significant research and evidence explaining many benefits of connecting with nature and green spaces (Hatala et, al., 2019).

 

Barnhart and Kawagley (2005) wrote about the emergence of a new generation of Indigenous scholars who are at the center of educational research; the Kokoms Fondation hopes to be a part of this movement and begin addressing topics and issues that confront the most difficult and significant educational and societal issues today. A facility such as the Kokoms Family Wellness Retreat Centre gives families a real chance as the facility will offer innovative approaches to education.

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Reconciling Actions

It was education that facilitated cultural genocide through the Indian Residential Schools, and it will be education that helps establish peaceful Indigenous relations within Canada.

 

A decolonized approach to education has the power to rebuild the damaged relationship that "Canada" has with the First Peoples of the Land through the legacy that was left behind by residential schools.

 

In response to the TRC’s recommendations, I encourage educational leaders, health institutions, and all organizations to support staff through this time of Truth and healing. Support to reconcile could be done through Indigenous workshops and training sessions that focus on the Truth and history of Canada. Additional support can be done through sharing scholarly articles, and sharing links to Indigenous education sites or hosting professional development days that focus on the meaning of decolonize Canada.

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Decolonizing actions involve marrying Indigenous ways of knowing with mainstream Canada culture, history, and legislate. Decolonizing also means the inclusion of Indigenous ways into the public school and post-secondary school curriculums.