Renewal
Indigenous Perspectives on Land-Based Education In and Beyond the Classroom
Edited by Christine M’Lot and Katya Adamov Ferguson
Portage & Main Press, 2025
ISBN 9781774921678
$37.00, 224 pp, teacher’s resource
portageandmainpress.com
Renewal is the second book in the Footbridge Series. Though Renewal uses the same framework as Resurgence, the first book in the series, there are slight differences in Renewal. The Footbridge Framework in Renewal focuses on Indigenous perspectives and texts through a land-based lens. There are five points in the journey along the bridge, divided into two sections: Educator Connections and Classroom Connections. Additionally, Renewal includes two new subsections in Classroom Connections that specifically focus on land-based learning and ways to connect to the land through engagement with the texts in the book.
The book opens with a brief Introduction that provides the reader with important, relevant and specific background information about Indigenous education, land-based education, and the rationale for the title Renewal. Source material, research or specific texts, such as essays, news articles, websites, videos, and government documents, discussed in the book are referenced with corresponding footnotes. This provides a strong foundation for both the theoretical and practical concepts in the book.
As someone who has begun my journey along the footbridge of Indigenous land-based education, the introduction helped me by providing succinct information defining and describing Indigenous and land-based educational theoretical and pedagogical concepts. For example, I quickly learned that “land-based education is on the land, about the land, and from the land” (p. 3). Land-based education reflects Indigenous “philosophies and methods of education … connected to specific places and rooted in history, language, and culture,” while being interdisciplinary, experiential, and inclusive of all learners (p. 3).
The writing and tone of the book engage the reader in a conversation among the editors and contributors. It contains encouraging and reassuring advice and recommendations, as the editors acknowledge they are walking alongside you in your journey of learning about Indigenous land-based education. The editors also provide practical approaches and checklists to help educators begin their journey, along with a list of recommended resources for further reading.
Lastly, the introduction discusses the book’s organization of each section and its corresponding contributors and their texts. The overview includes a table format identifying each contributor, their nation, title of text, type of text, suggested learner level, and connected concepts. The table is accessible for educators and provides different entry points for those who are beginning or continuing their teaching and learning of Indigenous land-based education, to engage with the texts authentically and intentionally with their students.
Then, the book is divided into four main sections reflecting the Indigenous ways of Knowing, Being, Doing, and Becoming that include a range of multimodal texts, from personal narrative essays, poems, visual art, photography, and activist posters. Each section contains a brief introduction, contributor biographies, and the text itself. Each text is followed by Educator Connections. This section includes reflective questions and suggested actions for educators to engage more deeply with the text.
The editors “treat each piece [text] as a ‘living text’ that acts as a springboard for engaging with Indigenous voices and pedagogies” (p. 5). The Educator Connections provides a platform for educators to deepen their “awareness and appreciation of our intrinsic connection to the land, emphasizing its vital role in shaping culture, identity, and well-being” (p. 5). This section offers educators the opportunity to pause, reflect, and consider how they and their students can engage with the text in meaningful ways.
The Classroom Connection section identifies overall concepts, provides prompts and/or actions for students to make personal connections to the text, and for making community connections through learning circles. Most importantly, students can connect with the text through land-based learning, connecting to the Land Back movement, and Connections to Other Indigenous Resources.
Each Classroom Connection section is grouped into three levels of learning, based on students’ “comfort level and prior knowledge and experiences” (p. 28). The levels are identified as Beginning, Bridging, and Beyond, each symbolized by an icon corresponding to a phase of the moon.
As someone who has entered the footbridge of learning about Indigenous philosophies and worldviews of land-based education, I feel Renewal provides an accessible and approachable framework and method that are practical for educators. While I was reading the book, I felt I was not only in conversation with the editors and Indigenous contributors, but I was also walking alongside them on the footbridge as I continue my journey of learning about Indigenous land-based education.
Review by Brianne MacLaren-Ross.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2026 issue.
