The Land Gives You What You Need

By Sarah DeLaronde, 1st year MDP student

I think the most beautiful part of the pandemic was learning to pivot. For my virtual practicum, I had the amazing opportunity to work with the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre (IKWC) in Edmonton, Alberta. I  was able to create content for social media, review and edit treaty kit documents and do a literature review that focused on land based education. It was interesting though, as my workspace changed to suit the needs of my children,

I found myself going back to the land. I was able to do research, write, respond to email in my various home territories. It was essential to balance my life and sacrifice some things in order to accomplish everything I needed to. Going back to the land gave me the teachings I needed to hear to do my research in a good way. I sat and listened to the Sundance Chief at the Turtle Lodge and the importance of being connected to the land to be whole. I recognized how my spirit was revived every time my feet touched the soil and the beautiful clear waters. I saw the joy of my children as they were reintroduced to their homelands. 

The lessons I learnt included lessons I wasn’t looking for but that I needed to hear. Being able to pivot and change my workspace. Learning to be more flexible with my time and learn to adjust to get the work done. The importance of showing up and listening (even if it means virtually). I would’ve liked to experience the lands of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 that IKWC works with however I do appreciate being able to complete my practicum and be reintroduced to my home territories. The land gave me what I needed for my research, she takes care of me.

Shifts and Changes

By Sarah DeLaronde, 1st year MDP student

My practicum with the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre (IKWC) was so inspiring. Being able to create social media content really shifted the way I think about social media. Social media can be used to catapult Indigenous businesses, organizations into the spotlight. Creating content for social media can be complicated; you have to choose what would be most appealing, simple and easy to read. Academic language shouldn’t be used as it would make the content inaccessible for people outside of academia and wouldn’t translate well into a social media post. Taking time everyday to focus on posts and thinking about what would be most aesthetically pleasing really worked well for me. I utilized my experience as a traditional maker to choose the right colours. 

Lastly, I also did some research on content creation to create the most effective posts. Social media can be utilized to get information out quicker and to a larger audience. By bringing attention to IKWC as a whole, more people would be able to get involved with the organization and they could, in turn, take on more work and improve their communities in this way. IKWC’s goal is to preserve knowledge so it can be carried forward to the next generations. Social media can reach the right age groups where youth start to self determine and become interested in who they are. Social media is truly innovative tool that I hope to improve on as I move forward through MDP. I would like to eventually do more social media content creation as a means to teach youth about their cultures.