Anonymous submission
June 2026
This article summarizes a recent publication, “Plants as Our Relatives: the creation and gifting of a relational learning task” by Jeanien Cooper, Alexandria Farmer, Harley Bastien, and Carol L. Armstrong: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2025-0024
This new publication in the scientific journal Botany details the work of Indigenous Knowledge Holders and Elders at various institutions in Alberta to break barriers between western science and Indigenous ways of knowing when introducing university students to plants. The authors describe an Indigenous worldview in which plants are not mere background or resources – but relatives: part of a network of life in which humans are only one thread.
Based on that philosophy, the authors developed a learning experience or relational learning task called “Plants as Our Relatives.” This isn’t a traditional botany assignment. Instead, it’s land-based, experiential and rooted in relationships: guided by Elders, Ceremonialists, Knowledge Keepers, and community members. Students choose a plant and build a relationship with it over time through observation and independent research. Rather than studying the plant as an object, participants engage with it as a relative, visiting it repeatedly, observing its seasonal changes, learning its stories, roles, and gifts from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and reflecting on their responsibilities to it.
This approach challenges dominant Western scientific and educational paradigms, which often treat plants as objects. By recentering relationships and reciprocity, the paper advocates for a more holistic, respectful approach to nature. The described relational learning task demonstrates a concrete way to integrate Indigenous epistemologies into botanical education. By positioning plants as relatives, the exercise fosters stewardship, humility, and long-term relationships with the land.
The authors invite educators, institutions, and learners to consider integrating relational, Indigenous-led approaches into curriculum and land-based education. This is not merely additive (e.g., “add a module on Indigenous knowledge”) – it reimagines the basis of learning: from extraction and classification to reciprocity, respect, and relationship.
Learn more from the article here: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2025-0024