Indigenous Land Education in Early Childhood: Examining a Process for Curriculum Development in a Tribal Nation Early Learning Program

• In Event: Resistance to Settler-Colonial Curriculum: Fostering Community Wellness Through Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Teaching

Abstract

This study examined the process of developing a land-based curriculum within a Tribal Nation Early Learning program, emphasizing the importance of developing and understanding processes toward decolonization for tribal nations to (re)claim their children’s education. Beginning curriculum with an emphasis on relationships with land, water, and place fosters community wellness for generations to come. This research advances work around resistance to settler-colonial curriculum by narrowing in on ways a Tribal Nation Early Learning program can move beyond settler serving policy initiatives that over-standardize children’s education (Iorio & Parnell, 2015) through land-based curriculum. Findings depict shared commitments of land-based language/culture curriculum as an act of resurgence with varying degrees of implementation and an iterative cycle of curricula development.

Author

• Anna Lees, Western Washington University