Revitalizing Learning and Wellness through Indigenous Land-Based Education

Rooted in the Land

For Dr. Alannah Young, education begins – and always returns – to the land. As a Senior Research Associate with the Centre for Land-Based Education, Research and Wellness at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm (pronounced “Hw ‘ts i ‘ts u sum”) at UBC Farm, Dr. Young grounds her work in Indigenous knowledge systems that emphasize relationality and reciprocity – principles passed down from her family, community, and the land.

Dr. Young’s educational journey has been shaped by her aunt, Dr. Rosalyn Ing, and cousin, Dr. Greg Younging, whose leadership in Indigenous education continues to guide new generations.

“Through their educational leadership, I learned how harmful intergenerational education policies have been,” she reflects, “and how decolonial education can move us toward truth and reconciliation for better learning environments for all.”

Their teachings, along with the understanding that the land is the first teacher, inspire Dr. Young’s work at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm – where education, mentorship, and orality are seen as acts of reclamation and responsibility. For her enduring leadership and commitment to advancing reconciliation, Dr. Young received the 2025 UBC Faculty of Education Reconciliation and Decolonization Alumni Award.

What Is Land-Based Education?

“It’s holistic, experiential, and relational – fostering the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and the land itself,” she explains.

Dr. Young centres her work around Indigenous-led land-based education – a holistic approach that places the land as the primary source of knowledge, culture, language, and well-being. This model focuses on learning from places, seasons, local ecosystems and the biocultural relationship of all beings.

“It’s holistic, experiential, and relational – fostering the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and the land itself”

– Dr. Alannah Young

Guided by Elders and Knowledge Keepers, learners engage through storytelling, hands-on activities, and ceremonial practices. Activities such as harvesting, gardening, or language learning strengthen relationships with the land and nurture a sense of responsibility to protect it for future generations.

Research Connecting Wellness and the Land

At the Centre for Land-Based Education, Research and Wellness at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, Dr. Young’s research explores how Indigenous land-based education impacts wellness, food sovereignty, youth identity, and anti-racism efforts. The Centre’s interdisciplinary approach bridges community-based knowledge and academic scholarship, creating ethical partnerships that prioritize Indigenous self-determination.

Some of the Centre’s philosophy at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm on land-based pedagogies are influenced by Dr. Young’s doctoral work Gee-zhee-gan’duk (Cedar) Pedagogy: How Elders Teach in a Land-Based Health Education Program. This research work outlines five pedagogical learning pathways that were developed through connections with Indigenous Elders in rural Manitoba: culture, land, orality, community, and ethics.

From these pathways, Dr. Young proposes a framework for educators who are interested in developing their own land-based pedagogies based on their own experiences and traditions. This framework includes conducting research with local Indigenous communities, by accessing appropriate Indigenous knowledge holders, following local protocol principles, taking people out on the land, and reflecting on the experience by sharing stories using an Indigenous story work methodology (Archibald, 2008).

At the Faculty of Land and Food Systems with Dr. Eduardo Jovel, founding member and Director of the Centre for Land-Based Education, Research and Wellness at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, Dr. Young examines pedagogies developed by Elders in the urban contexts and develops pedagogies for xʷc̓ic̓əsəm as part of her post-doctorate research.

Her post-doctoral work examines how Indigenous Elders applied the land-based health education pedagogies developed from the rural context to the urban xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, and through food security and food sovereignty initiatives. The research documents how Indigenous protocols and principles can mobilize Indigenous land-based pedagogies, including Indigenous food security and food sovereignty for holistic wellness.

As part of her role as an educator, Dr. Young also teaches Indigenous research epistemologies and methodologies and is a community education trainer in Indigenous Focusing Orientated Therapy for treatment of complex trauma using land-based and holistic modalities. She works with the Indigenous Medicine Collective – an urban land-based group of holistic health practitioners and researchers and community members dedicated to land-based health and wellness practices. Her upcoming article, Interweaving Relationality Inawendiwin (Connection): Women Revitalizing Resurgence & Reciprocity, examines intergenerational leadership, mentorship, and responsibility.

The xʷc̓ic̓əsəm team also collaborates with the Vancouver Indigenous medical community – including Kílala Lelum Health and Wellness Centre, Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society, Lu’ma Medical Centre alongside UBC Pharmaceutical Science’s UPROOT program and the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples’ Wellbeing. Together, they work to revitalize urban healthcare by integrating Western medicine with Indigenous medicinal plants and foods as medicine for land-based wellness.

Creating Opportunities Through Reciprocity

For Dr. Young, education is a reciprocal act – a way to give back to community. She co-teaches courses such as First Nations Health and the Traditional Role of Plants (LFS 340), Indigenous Food Systems in Canada (APBI 422), as well as the Indigenous Land-Based Summer Internship Program (APBI 497), all taking place at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm. Students and volunteers engage in land-based learning at the Musqueam food garden located at UBC Farm, growing foods requested by the community – an act of relevant reciprocity for Indigenous food security.

“These experiences change the trajectory of students’ lives,” she notes. “They learn to embody the values of living as a good relative – prioritizing community over commercial food production.”

Honouring Legacy: The Rosalyn Ing and Greg Younging Memorial Award

To honour her family’s legacy, Dr. Young is establishing the Dr. Rosalyn Ing and Dr. Greg Younging Memorial Award. This award supports Indigenous students who demonstrate leadership, community engagement, and a commitment to advancing Indigenous knowledge, self-determination, and reconciliation through education.

“This is my way of carrying Rosalyn and Greg’s spirit forward,” Dr. Young explains, “and of walking together with others who believe education should bring together knowledges and ways of knowing, not divide.”

“…education should bring together knowledges and ways of knowing, not divide.”

– Dr. Alannah Young

The award is connected to the Faculty of Education’s Walk With Us: The Path Towards Reconciliation initiative—a faculty-wide effort to create tangible support for Indigenous-led education through initiatives such as scholarships, land-based programs, and learning spaces that centre Indigenous knowledge and leadership. “Education as relationship and action,” she says, “means walking beside Indigenous students so they can become the next educators, writers, and leaders.”

Building for the Future

Dr. Young’s journey began in Winnipeg, inspired by her grandparents John and Elizabeth Young, who emphasized the importance of drawing on both Indigenous and Western education systems. Her family’s long commitment to education – nearly 40 university degrees strong – continues to weave together Indigenous and land-based knowledges for holistic health and wellness that can benefit all learners.

Through her research, teaching, and mentorship, Dr. Young shows that education rooted in the land fosters understanding of our interconnectedness with people and the environment. “As we face global challenges like climate change and food insecurity, we must remember our responsibility to sustainable land ecologies and to one another.”

Dr. Young’s work is helping to build a more inclusive and sustainable future—one grounded in respect, reciprocity, and responsibility. Her leadership continues to inspire and empower new generations of educators, artists, writers, and community leaders.

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