On the Land Reflection Paper
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Trent University *
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Medicine
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Jan 9, 2024
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On the Land Reflection Paper
Department of Education, Trent University
INDG 1001: Foundation for Reconciliation
Dr. Heather Y. Shpuniarsky
October 14th, 2022
To reconnect with the land, I decided to take a walk through the neighbourhood where I
grew up in. As a child, I used to walk up and down the street every day in the fall to collect
chestnuts and give them to the squirrels that lived in my grandma's yard, but as I got caught up in
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the hardships and responsibilities that accompany the process of growing up, I forgot how
peaceful a simple walk could be. To start my walk, I headed down my grandma’s street and over
through the forest just a couple minutes from her house. I walked through the forest and over to
the old park that I used to play in as a child, after that, I returned home and reflected on
everything that I had seen. The first thing that I noticed was that as an adult I had a completely
different perspective on the world than when I was a child. In my younger years, I thought of
everything as separate entities. For example, I did not think about the relationship between the
trees in the forest and those in the park. I even thought of the sidewalk and the road, just four feet
apart from each other, as completely separate destinations. However, as an adult I found myself
seeing everything as a whole. Everything that I encountered played a role in the process of
everything else. For instance, the squirrels relied on the oak trees in the park to eat, but the oak
trees also relied on the squirrels to bury acorns and forget about them so that another tree can
grow. There is a wonderful cycle of reliance within nature that I had the privilege of recognizing
and experiencing firsthand. Not only was everything around me a part of all of my surroundings,
but I felt as though I was a part of it as well. I felt a profound connection to all of the wildlife and
nature around me. By using the medicine wheel (Absolon, 2019) I know that I was feeling a
spiritual connection to the world. I felt a responsibility to care for the environment because just
as I rely on the trees to provide me with clean air, they rely on the actions of good people to
ensure they can continue to grow and better the lives of others. The walk had an extremely
nostalgic impact on me because the entire neighbourhood was the setting for my process of
growing up, but it also helped me to look forward. Sometimes school and work can become a
large stressor in my life, and with midterms approaching, I had been studying inside for multiple
days. The land reminded me how therapeutic a simple walk through nature can be. After the
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walk, I felt as though my soul was recharged and I was ready to face challenges with a more
positive outlook. I felt as though I was a part of something larger than myself, which made all of
my fears and insecurities seem extremely minuscule compared to the grand scheme of the world.
According to the teachings of the medicine wheel (Absolon, 2019), I was feeling an emotional
connection to the world and recognizing my relationship with it. I was extremely grateful to be
given the opportunity to reconnect with the land, as if I was not instructed to, I most likely would
not have prioritized making that connection and revisiting my roots.
References
Absolon, K. (2020). Indigenous wholistic theory: A knowledge set for practice.
First Peoples
Child & Family Review
,
14
(1), 22–42. https://doi.org/10.7202/1071285ar
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Separate Title Page APA style with following text: Assignment Title, Name, Student
Number, Seminar Code, Seminar Leader’s Name, Date
Single use declaration appended on last page
Page Numbers on all pages but not on title page
Pages are within the page count of the assignment
Document is double spaced
Pages are in correct format: 1” margins all around, Times Roman font, 12 point
Citations in APA Format
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No Wikipedia, Canadian Encyclopedia or Encyclopedia Britannica references or
citations
Paper is print ready, i.e. paper has been run through grammar and spell check and results
verified with a human being other than the author
There is a formal introductory paragraph
Indigenous, Aboriginal, Inuit, Métis appropriately capitalized
Aboriginal, Indigenous are not used as nouns but as adjectives
Please sign the following statement:
“I certify that this work has been prepared as a result of my own effort. I have not submitted
this work for grading in any other course”.
Name: Laura Walton
Date: October 14, 2022