Learning is a growing concern at Tsawwassen Farm School

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While farming is sometimes thought to be a colonial practice imposed on First Nations by force by European governments, one First Nation in Canada is embracing it.

The Tsawwassen First Nation recently formed a partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University to bring a farming program directly to Tsawwassen land. The “farm school” teaches how to plant, grow and manage small-scale and ecologically-sound farms, as opposed to a large-scale industrial approach to farming.

The Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School is a collaboration between Tsawwassen First Nation and the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems. Registration for the 2016 season is open now, but beware. Prepare for some seriously physical hard work.

“The farm is on 20-acres and it’s just going to grow better every year. It’s a great teaching program because it’s good hard outside work, but also teaches people about team work and the need for team work to get everything done,” said Deana Jacobs, a member of Tsawwassen First Nation and a student in last year’s Farm School program.

“Some people can’t handle it because it’s hard work, but the ones that do feel very gratified in the end,” she said.

The program is in its second year. Jacobs was part of last year’s pilot run. Already an avid gardener and professional greenhouse owner, her participation in the program gave her the boost she needed to take her business to a higher level.

“It interested me because I wanted to learn more about nature and soils… and to incorporate what I learned in my existing business and what I do from home. I’ve learned a variety of vegetables that would suit my baskets and I’ve learned a variety of native plants I could incorporate,” she said.

And she’s still learning. The program offers a multitude of comprehensive courses, including building greenhouses, soil quality and nutrient density, crop planting and management, and even animal husbandry—yes, there are chickens and pigs on the farm in Tsawwassen.

 Jacobs took it upon herself to stay in touch with one particular teacher of a course she took.

“There’s this Native Elder from Musqueam who taught us, and I had no idea I had so many plants in my own backyard. Now I want to use those for my healing teas and I want to get the seeds and grow more... I’m hoping to grow sweetgrass for my smudge kits,” she said.

And there are other bonuses to the program, too. It has given the community members something a lot more beautiful than buildings and developed land to look at, and it’s helping to recreate and preserve natural Indigenous plant landscapes, Jacobs said.

It’s even helped her to understand nutrition better.

“It really opened my eyes to the seriousness of pesticides out there, and corporate grocery stores, and the lack of nutrients in food.... And how it’s possible for everyone to grow their own food or at least shop locally in the market,” said Jacobs.

Dr. Kent Mullinix is the director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. He oversees the program in Tsawwassen, as well as one in Richmond, B.C. But he says there are key differences between the approaches taken in both locations, and the program in Tsawwassen was tailored specifically with the Indigenous population in mind.

“One of the things that distinguishes the First Nation farm school from the Richmond school is that the Tsawwassen First Nation school is more linked to the community. In addition to teaching about the farm, we want to do things to create a place for community gatherings, to create a place for parents to bring their children, to see the farm and the animals, and experience that,” he said.

Mullinix helps run the program, and said there is a specific reason it does not use entrance examinations, term papers, mid-term exams, or textbooks. The program is intended to be “pure teaching and pure learning”—a practical hands-on experience aligned with a traditional Indigenous way of life.

And although it’s still a work in progress, and has gone through some modifications between the two seasons so far, it’s been successful in achieving most of the community’s and the school’s objectives. It’s also worth noting that the community approached the school to request the program come to them, and not the other way around, said Mullinix.

“For some folks there’s this residual disdain for farming because of residential schools… because it’s a colonialist enterprise. Those sentiments have been expressed to me, but others have expressed that it’s important for us to do and could be important for our future,” he said.

“And I was particularly enthusiastic to do it because I think the Indigenous communities have a lot to teach us about stewardship of land, and about farming with Mother Earth,” said Mullinix.

For more information or to register at the Farm School, visit http://www.kpu.ca/tfnfarm