Listuguj Outdoor Education

Last hurrah!
Explore the territory this summer, fall in love with the beautiful land that we live on. We’ll see everyone when your amazing summer vacation is over!

Have a great summer and thank you to everyone that helps make our school so amazing!

Year 6 of Listuguj Outdoor Education will be starting in September.

See yahs then!

What started as a great day of fishing with our Grade 8s turned into something even better when we crossed paths with GINU and got a firsthand look at their electrofishing session.

Our students got to catch sculpin and trout—and more importantly, they got inspired. Big thanks to GINU for welcoming us in and getting our students involved. That quick, impromptu session may have planted some future science and stewardship seeds!

This afternoon, we spent time on the land with our Grade 6 group. We visited the muskrat root(sweetflag) we planted earlier this year and were excited to see they’re thriving — harvest time is just around the corner.

On our way out of the bush, we crossed paths with the GINU team testing out their water rover. The students got a quick introduction to the tech and were soon back to exploring the water’s edge with curiosity and energy.

Always something new to learn out on the land.

Here's a nice video of Tucker when he was about 7 cleaning his fish and a little video collaboration from today!
we love this stuff!

Today, our Grade 5 class had the chance to learn traditional skills by scaling, cleaning, and filleting salmon for the AGS salmon feast. Thanks to generous salmon donations from George Moffat and Jimmy G, we were able to keep our traditions alive while preparing this meal. We even had a chance to taste the fresh salmon ourselves.

We’re proud of our outdoor education program and our school community. Today, 300 students and staff will enjoy a traditional salmon lunch together.

Let’s practice responsible harvesting to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy this delicious resource!

Exploring Mi’kma’ki this past week has been nothing short of amazing.

Our students have been building relationships—with the land, with each other, and with themselves. They’ve been soaking up the sun, challenging their limits, working as a team, and falling in love with the beauty and strength of our territory.

These moments remind us of all the good that happens when we get out on the land. It’s more than just learning—it’s connection, culture, and community in motion.

With summer just around the corner, we hope our students carry this passion forward. One of our favourite things to hear is: “Can I bring my parents here after school?”
Yes. Always yes.

Land-based education is alive and thriving—and we’re so proud of the growth we’ve seen this week.

It’s not over yet! We’d love to have a salmon donated to the program so we can teach them how to filet and cook salmon. We want to make salmon leather, teach salmon anatomy, and eat some salmon in the coming weeks!

FLASHBACK!

After learning about Indigenous rights and our access to resources on the land, our students have been exploring the deep responsibilities that come with those rights.

Last week, we dove into the world of salmon fishing—an essential part of our culture and history here in Listuguj. Through discussions around the powerful film "Incident at Restigouche" by Alanis Obomsawin, students reflected on the Listuguj Raid and the strength of our community in defending our inherent rights.

Now, with respect and curiosity, our students are learning how to tie a gill net—one method of many used by our people to fish the beautiful Restigouche River. It’s more than just a skill; it’s a connection to our tradition, our land, and our identity.

We are deeply grateful to the knowledge keepers and community members who continue to share these teachings. Your wisdom lights the path forward for our youth.

📸 Check out our students working together to learn this traditional practice!

’gmaqPride

Salmon Season Has Begun in Outdoor Education 🐟

Last week, our Outdoor Education program began our salmon season with an important and emotional introduction. We reflected on the powerful documentary Incident at Restigouche, where police entered our community on June 11, 1981, and told our people they could no longer fish salmon to feed their families. It opened the door to conversations about our rights vs. responsibilities, and our deep, ancient relationship with salmon—one that has sustained us for thousands of years.

We spoke about how our community stood together in the face of injustice, how times have changed, and how far we’ve come. We connected these events to the legacy of residential schools, and how later Indigenous knowledge was once reduced to a single paragraph in a textbook, told only through a Western lens. Then we flashed forward to today—where our youth are learning on the land, guided by our stories, our knowledge, and our truth.

We asked questions:
- How did our people feel on that day in 1981?
- Why did Alanis Obomsawin choose to tell this story?
-How would the story change if told from the lens of the police?

Of couse we don’t have the answers to all these types of question but hope to bring people in to share their stories. If you would like to share your raid stories, fishing stories, please sent is a text or give is a call at the school.
We would appreciate it and so would our students!

We spoke about the importance of salmon fishing, not just as a right—but as a responsibility to protect a resource for the next seven generations.

Afterward, students visited Moffat’s Landing—one of our community’s fishing lodges. They heard stories, learned about our Mi’gmaq fishing law, and reflected on the resilience of the men and women who continue to fish these waters today.

Some explored the water’s edge, others jumped in the mud or splashed in the shallows—but all walked away with something deeper: an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and why the salmon matters.

Today we start tying our Gil net and finishing our maple syrup! Updates to come

’gmaqPride

This spring, we joined the sap and followed it all the way to maple syrup!
After tapping the trees and collecting the sap, we estimated that we devoted around 15 litres of syrup from our harvest.

Throughout the season, we welcomed groups of students from all grades to join us in hands-on learning sessions. Together, we explored how it takes about 40 litres of sap to make just 1 litre of syrup — a process that requires patience, careful boiling, and respect for the trees.

By making maple syrup, we are continuing a tradition that has been part of our community since long before settlers arrived. This is more than just a seasonal activity — it’s science, culture, and connection to the land coming together.

Welalin to all who came out and helped!