Future space of the Indigenous Outdoor Classroom and Truth and Reconciliation Memorial Garden at Burnaby campus. A ceremonial opening is planned for 2023.

A glimpse of the Indigenous Garden and Outdoor Classroom

June 19, 2023
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Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing are interconnected with the land. SFU's new Indigenous Garden and Outdoor Classroom will be a welcoming place-based learning space at the Burnaby campus that honours Indigenous pedagogy. The work began in June 2020 with the awakening and blessing of the ground by the Tsleil- Waututh Nation knowledge holders. In fall 2021, the Faculty of Education organized a tour of the UBC Indigenous Garden and a meeting with Indigenous ethnobotanist T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, to discuss a planting plan for supporting an emerging Indigenous ethnobotany curriculum. There are ongoing discussions about collaborating with Indigenous artists on future installations (including the Residential School Memorial Wall), and on plans for a ceremonial opening in 2023.