b"INDIGENOUS LAND STEWARDSHIPsustainable future. Students learn from Elders, Knowledge Keepers and prac-titioners in a curriculum that blends classroom theory with hands-on expe-rience in forests, watersheds and terri-tories. Remote-learning hubs ensure that students can remain connected to their home communities while pursuing studies. With support from the Mastercard Foundations EleV initiative, the program is financially accessible to First Nations, Mtis and Inuit youth through schol-arships, relocation support and work- study opportunities.For Dr. Garry Merkel, a Tahltan Nation memberandlong-timeleaderin Indigenous governance and forestry, BILS is the culmination of decades of dreaming. This movement of trying to figure out how to integrate Indigenous Ways OfDr. Garry Merkel, Director of UBC's Centre of Indigenous Land Stewardship, gives a talk to BILS students at the Malcolm Knowing and science with more contem- Knapp Research Forestporary ways has been going on for well over 100 years, he reflects. Merkels own career has been shaped by that search for balance, serving asstudents engaged in study, that visionBurrows also shaped my understanding a forester, educator and policy advisor,has taken a tangible form. of land stewardship as a form of gover-and most recently co-authoring Britishnance and self-determination.Columbias landmark Declaration on theOne student in the program is Drew Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. He isBrown from Bella Bella, B.C., home toThe programs holistic lens was what reso-currently the director of the Centre ofthe Heiltsuk Nation, though he grew upnated with Brown most. [It] blends tradi-Indigenous Land Stewardship at UBC'sin Vancouver. For Brown, the programtional ecological knowledge with western Faculty of Forestry. The idea of a dedi- offered something he had long beenscience, reinforcing that stewardship is cated centre for Indigenous land steward- searching for: an education rooted in hisabout relationships between people, ship education, he explains, is somethingown peoples values of relational gover- land, water and all living beings, Brown he had carried for decades. Why dontnance. In an interview with UBC Forestry, we build a centre of excellence where wehe explained, I was inspired by my deepsays. For him, the Heiltsuk word mnxvit, can learn Indigenous practicessocial,connection to Heiltsuk Territory, espe- meaning to become one, captures the ecological, culturaland build a stew- cially the Koeye River. The Idle No Morespirit of this education: a recognition ardship system from that foundation? hemovement and the work of Indigenousthat culture, governance and ecology notes. Now, with the first cohort of BILSleaders like Arthur Manuel and Johnare inseparable.Every society is built from its land ethic, its ethical framework. Thats what drives the way a society structures itselfits governance, its economy, its relationships. Were teaching students how to root stewardship systems in that ethic.Dr. Garry Merkel, UBCIndigenous BUSINESS REPORT49"