(Ottawa, ON) December 16, 2021 – On this week’s episode of Roots and Hoots, host Gordon Spence is pleased to be joined by Carolynne Crawley. Carolynne is a woman who cares deeply and sincerely about the Land. She is of Mi’kmaw, Black and Irish ancestry and is from the East Coast, known today as Nova Scotia. Carolynne is the founder of Msit No’kmaq. Among her vast experience of working in community and guiding people through the practice of forest therapy, she is dedicated to social and environmental justice and supporting Indigenous led community work related to food sovereignty and food security.

Carolynne and Gordon sit down to discuss the passion and awareness that has fuelled her work. In all forms, Carolynne is a teacher. She instructs, guides, and serves as a bridge that helps connect people to the Land, to each other and to their own selves. She is the founder of Msit No’kmaq which translates as All My Relations in Mi’kmaw. Carolynne is a certified Forest Therapy Guide and through her work, leads in person and virtual forest therapy walks as well as facilitates webinars and retreats. Carolynne supports the development and strengthening of healthy and reciprocal relationships based upon Indigenous knowledges that decolonize existing interactions with the land and with each other.

Carolynne takes the time to discuss the importance of the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle which consists of a Circle of Elders, knowledge keepers, community members and leaders who have come together around a shared commitment to heal and protect Indigenous lands and community in Tkaronto’s High Park. Carolynne has also worked with one of Toronto’s largest food security organizations and she and Gordon discuss how food security is about access and availability to culturally appropriate nourishment. Towards the end of the session, Carolynne shares her heartfelt message on Reconciliation. She touches on how it is the return to friendly relations and reparations between Indigenous Nations and the State of Canada, and how it involves individual work first and foremost, to be able to share in more enduring healthy and holistic communication with all others.

The LHF is a national, indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 21 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems and subsequent Sixties Scoop on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote hope and healing in Canada. The LHF works to encourage people to address discrimination and injustice in order to contribute to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation.

The LHF has more than 25 educational exhibitions that promote awareness of Indigenous history that are free to borrow and is working on making exhibitions available online. LHF also has curriculum for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops and Training, podcasts, all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Sixties Scoop, etc. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding so as to eliminate racism against Indigenous Peoples.