Indigenizing Nature-Based Outdoor Education Curricula

A key aim of this project was to lay a solid foundation for Indigenizing the outdoor education curriculum in the Outdoor Learning and Recreation major. Zmudy and Indigenous collaborators — Roxanne DeLille of Fond du Lac Community College; Chanda Blesi of the Gokiju, Anishinaabe First Nation; and Cyndi Bergloff of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians — developed principles and outcomes that provided a framework for scrutinizing the current student learning outcomes (SLOs) that guide the outdoor education curriculum. 

Specifically, the team reviewed the SLOs to identify language and philosophical principles rooted in Eurocentric ideologies that may minimize or erase Indigenous ways of knowing. For example, one learning outcome was that students in these classes would be able to articulate and discuss Indigenous worldviews and perspectives on nature and outdoor education.

With Jody O’Connor and Jeremy Wilson of UMD’s American Indian Learning Resource Center, Zmudy also brought seven students one year, and five students the next, to the Minnesota Indian Education Association Conference and co-presented with them on “Creating a Sense of Belonging for Native Students in Outdoor Education."

In addition, Tribal Elders were invited and paid an honorarium to speak at several outdoor education classes. Students also engaged in nature-based outdoor activities including group canoeing, cedar wild rice stick making, push-pole practice with canoes, a camping trip with canoeing and fishing, hiking trips, and bird feeder making, in ways that fostered a welcoming environment and a sense of belonging for Native students.