DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Although classes have been in for nearly a month, students at Deh Gah School in Fort Providence aren't spending much time in the classroom.

Riley McKay, left, Sam Gargan and Grade 5-6 teacher Diana George pluck a goose at Redknife River. - photo courtesy of Nimisha Bastedo

Instead, students from nearly every grade are preparing for a month or more of on-the-land education, using the great outdoors around the community as their classroom.

The land-based classes are becoming a regular thing at the school. On-the-land instructor Nimisha Bastedo says the school tries to run them for each season classes are in session, aiming to hold three per year.

"What we're trying to do is really give opportunities for all the students to be able to get out on the land," she said.

Bastedo joined 10 young people from Deh Gah School's Grade 5 and 6 classes, along with their teacher and four community members a couple weeks ago for a five-day boat trip down the Mackenzie River.

That trip kicked off the school's on-the-land activities for the season.

Students travelled downriver to Redknife, where they spent two nights. From there, they spent a day at Brownings Landing before heading to Axe Point for the remainder of the trip. On the way back, they stopped in at the community gathering taking place at Horne River.

"The point (was) for students to get out with people from the community who know a lot about the history of the area. So they go to different places along the river that are significant within a student's family's history," she said.

"(They) learned about where their ancestors would have spent time - and even their grandparents, where they grew up."

Accompanying them were Sam Gargan, Philip Bonnetrouge, Henry Sabourin and Louie Constant.

Spending a day at Brownings Landing was fun, Bastedo said, given how much there is to explore. The site includes old buildings as well as a sandy beach.

"Students were finding a lot of different cool rocks, clay, stuff like that too," she said.

"The highlight (of the trip) for me was seeing the students interacting with the (people) we brought out there, seeing them excited to learn about the different places, and also just seeing them really happy to be back out on the river, exploring and picking berries."

While those students settle back into their classes, children from Kindergarten to Grade 3 are preparing for a month of outdoor education, which will run until the first week in October. Bastedo said those students will be heading down to the snye for day trips, where the school has set up three tents.

"They do their language arts in Dene Zhatie, and then they do their math and their Dene Zhatie program. In the afternoon, they'll go out and do a lot of science, exploring the area, as well as arts and culture classes," she said.

"It's all in (Dene Zhatie) immersion."

Almost simultaneously, youth from all grades are on the Horne Plateau at Willow Lake for five weeks.

Bastedo said that trip involves entire families as well as two teachers. While some of the participants are from the lower grades, many are in high school.

"The purpose is to spend time speaking the language and also just living on the land," she said.

As for middle school students, all the boys in Grade 7 and 8 are preparing for a fall hunt, which Bastedo called a rites of passage camp.

For nine days, the youth will be out with community members hunting for moose.

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