I leaned against the old spruce tree, watching a group of children gather around Elder Howard Nanooch. His weathered hands traced the outline of a traditional hide scraper, and the students—eyes wide with curiosity—reached out to touch the tool that had been used by generations of Dane-zaa people before them. This wasn’t a typical field trip for these Grade 5 students from Fort St. John, British Columbia.
“Our language connects us to our land,” Howard explained to the group, his voice steady and clear despite his 78 years. “When you learn to speak Beaver, you learn to see the world through our ancestors’ eyes.”
This is the heart of Doig Day, an annual educational initiative returning in spring 2025 after a two-year hiatus. The program, developed by the Doig River First Nation in partnership with School District 60, allows hundreds of elementary students to immerse themselves in Dane-zaa culture, language, and traditional knowledge—learning that extends far beyond what textbooks can offer.
When I visited the planning session last week at the Doig River administration building, coordinator Samantha Cardinal explained the program’s significance. “Most of these kids live just 30 kilometers away from our community, but they’ve never set foot here. Doig Day bridges that gap.”
Cardinal, a former teacher who now leads cultural education initiatives for the Nation, showed me the carefully designed stations planned for the May 2025 event. Students will rotate through nine learning areas, including traditional food preparation, storytelling, medicine gathering, and language lessons.
“We’re not just teaching them about Indigenous culture—we’re teaching them through Indigenous ways of knowing,” Cardinal said as she unfolded maps of the outdoor classroom areas.
The program’s resurgence follows a challenging period for community-based education initiatives. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of Doig Day in 2020, and ongoing resource constraints kept it sidelined until now. School District 60 Indigenous Education Coordinator Marcus Hallberg sees the return as crucial for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
“Our Indigenous students deserve to see their culture celebrated in educational settings,” Hallberg told me as we walked the proposed site. “And for non-Indigenous students, this is often their first meaningful connection to the rich cultures that have thrived on this land for thousands of years.”
The 2025 program will host approximately 750 students over three days, a significant increase from previous years. This expansion reflects growing interest from schools and increased capacity within the Doig River community to share their knowledge.
Elder Clarence Apsassin, who has participated in every Doig Day since its inception in 2012, believes the program offers something increasingly rare in modern education.
“Children today, they know how to use computers and phones, but many don’t know how to listen to the land,” Apsassin said as he showed me where the fire-starting station would be located. “Here, they learn to use all their senses—to feel the texture of a well-tanned hide, to smell medicine plants, to taste traditional foods.”
Research supports the value of such land-based, culturally responsive education. A 2023 study published in the Canadian Journal of Native Education found that Indigenous cultural immersion programs significantly improved both academic outcomes and cultural confidence for all participating students.
The program also addresses a critical gap in the provincial curriculum. While British Columbia has made strides to incorporate Indigenous perspectives in classroom learning—particularly following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action—meaningful experiential learning remains limited in many schools.
Jenna McLeod, a Grade 5 teacher at Ecole Central Elementary School, has brought her classes to Doig Day since 2015. She’s witnessed remarkable transformations in her students.
“The conversations we have after Doig Day are profound,” McLeod said. “Students who were previously disengaged become animated when discussing what they learned. It humanizes history in a way textbooks simply cannot.”
Funding for the expanded 2025 program comes from multiple sources, including a $75,000 grant from the BC Arts Council’s Indigenous Cultural Sharing program, support from local industry partners, and School District 60’s Indigenous education budget.
The program’s revival hasn’t been without challenges. Event organizers have worked carefully to ensure cultural protocols are respected while meeting educational requirements. They’ve also had to navigate limited transportation options and coordinate with dozens of teachers and community knowledge keepers.
For Jessica Yahey, a 23-year-old language apprentice who will lead one of the language stations, Doig Day represents more than education—it’s about cultural continuity.
“My grandmother was punished for speaking our language in residential school,” Yahey told me as she demonstrated a syllabic writing activity planned for students. “Now I get to share that same language with hundreds of children who see it as valuable and beautiful. That healing goes both ways.”
As preparations continue for the May 2025 event, both the Doig River First Nation and School District 60 see potential for this model to expand. Discussions are underway about developing similar partnerships with other Nations in the region, including Blueberry River and Halfway River First Nations.
When I asked Howard Nanooch what he hopes students will remember from their day at Doig, he paused, looking out toward the rolling hills that have sustained his people for countless generations.
“I hope they remember that Indigenous knowledge isn’t history—it’s living. And I hope they understand that this land holds stories and wisdom that belong to all of us now.”
As the spring sun began to set behind us, I could almost see those hundreds of children scattered across these grounds next year, their hands working with traditional tools, their voices practicing new words, their perspectives expanding with each station they visit. In a region where resource development often dominates the conversation, Doig Day offers something different—a reminder that the most valuable resources are the cultural knowledge and connections we nurture in each new generation.
