Search for Resources

Returning to the Yakoun River

Elementary, Middle

Description

Based on the author’s childhood memories, this story invites readers to experience a Haida fish camp through the eyes of children as they learn from the land and from their Elders. Each summer, a Haida girl and her family travel up the Yakoun River on Haida Gwaii, following the salmon. While their father fishes, the girl and her brother spend their days exploring the land, playing and learning from Tsinii (Grandfather). The story immerses the reader in an Indigenous approach to teaching and learning rooted in place, community and cultural tradition.

General Assessment

Recommendation of how and where to use it

Returning to the Yakoun River illustrates place-based learning by showing how the Yakoun River itself is the central teacher. The children in the story learn through direct experience on the land—observing salmon, gathering water, preparing food, and listening to stories from Tsinii. Their knowledge is rooted in Haida cultural practices tied to that specific river, demonstrating how learning becomes meaningful when connected to local ecosystems, community traditions, and lived experiences on the land. Grades 3 to 6 curriculum links to Social Studies, Science and ELA.

To enhance the learning take students to a local outdoor place, schoolyard or nearby natural area to identify things that teach them such as weather, plants, animals, landforms. Encourage students to sketch or record notes about what they notice and learn from the land. Have them connect back to the book, comparing how they learned from their local environment to how the children in the story learned from the Yakoun River.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

  • Step 1Select a province
  • Alberta
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Comprehension: Text comprehension is supported through applying varied strategies and processes, and considering both particular contexts and universal themes
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Living Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened through investigating natural systems and their interactions
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Comprehension: Text comprehension is supported by applying varied strategies and processes and by considering both particular contexts and universal themes.
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Comprehension: Text comprehension is supported by applying varied strategies and processes and by considering both particular contexts and universal themes.
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Comprehension: Text comprehension is supported through applying varied strategies and processes, and considering both particular contexts and universal themes
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Living Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened through investigating natural systems and their interactions
  • British Columbia
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves, our families, and our communities
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 3: Living things are diverse, can be grouped, and interact in their ecosystems
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge is passed down through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples:Indigenous societies throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 4: All living things sense and respond to their environment
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
  • Manitoba
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Life Science
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Language as Exploration and Design
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Habitat and Communities
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Language as Exploration and Design
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Peoples and Stories of Canada to 1867: First Peoples
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Language as Exploration and Design
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Diversity of Living Things
  • New Brunswick
  • Newfoundland & Labrador
  • Northwest Territories
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves, our families, and our communities
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 3:Plants and Animals are diverse, can be grouped, and interact in their ecosystems
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures awareness and respect for diversity.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge is continues to be shared through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous nations throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 4: All living things sense and respond to their environment
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
  • Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon Territory
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves, our families, and our communities
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 3: Living things are diverse, can be grouped, and interact in their ecosystems
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge is passed down through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples:Indigenous societies throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 4: All living things sense and respond to their environment
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world

Themes Addressed

Ecosystems (1)

  • Appreciating the Natural World

Indigenous Knowledge (2)

  • Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

A project of LSF Newsletter Sign-up