Relearning the Gift of Reciprocity: Walking with Indigenous Wisdom in a Time of Crises

At Gaia Education, we believe that regenerative futures are built not just through knowledge, but through the transformation of how we relate — to land, nature, each other, and to the systems we live within.

As part of our commitment to in-depth, holistic education, we are honoured to share reflections inspired by the work of Dr. Lyla June Johnston, whose upcoming course with us, Indigenous Knowledge Systems starting 8th September, opens a door to respectful, relational learning rooted in Indigenous worldviews.

Learn more about the course

In these unraveling times, when ecological collapse and cultural fragmentation press in on every side, many of us are asking a simple but radical question: How do we come back into right relationship with life? Not just with the land, but with each other — and with ourselves.

For those on a path of ecological regeneration, systems change, and inner transformation, Indigenous wisdom offers more than a source of knowledge. It offers a mirror. A reminder. A reckoning. And, perhaps most importantly, an invitation.

This is the kind of work Dr. Lyla June Johnston is doing — not just as a scholar or artist, but as a cultural bridge-builder rooted in Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne), and European lineages. Through her music, her doctoral research, her poetry, and now her teaching, she carries forward ancestral knowledge not as nostalgia, but as a living system of values, responsibilities, and ways of being — urgently needed in the modern world.

“Indigenous food systems are massive love letters to creation.”
— Lyla June

Lyla speaks often about the power of reciprocity — not just as a concept, but as a life practice. In her work, she reveals how pre-colonial Indigenous societies across Turtle Island shaped their landscapes not by taking, but by giving. Food forests tended over thousands of years. Fire used not for destruction, but for renewal. Kelp forests, clam gardens, and buffalo habitats — all enhanced by human hands guided by humility, reverence, and generosity.

This is a kind of regeneration that goes far beyond metrics and models. It is relational. It asks not, “How can I use this?” but, “How can I serve this?” It understands humans not as separate from nature, but as participants in its thriving — and, if we choose to be, its renewal.

But Lyla also reminds us that this path isn’t only about land and food. It’s about healing history.

Many of us carry trauma — personal, cultural, ancestral. And many of us, especially those from settler or Western backgrounds, carry inherited patterns of domination, extraction, and fear. Even in our efforts to do good, we may unknowingly replicate the very systems we long to dismantle. That’s why Lyla emphasizes the inner work of unlearning: letting go of superiority, urgency, reputation-building, and control. Creating space for deep listening. For respectful approach. For accountability with love.

When we stop trying to perform goodness, and start showing up in real relationship — with Indigenous knowledge, with the Earth, with our own roots — something shifts. We stop extracting. We begin to receive not just information, but transformation.

It is this spirit that animates Gaia Education’s upcoming course, Indigenous Knowledge Systems: A 6-week Learning Journey with Lyla June. Rather than offering a set of teachings to consume, it offers a pathway of reconnection — a chance to explore what it means to engage with Indigenous knowledge as a visitor, not a tourist. As a learner, not a collector. As a relative, not a rescuer.

This is not a quick fix. It is not another “toolkit” or “strategy.” It is a humble beginning.

🌀 The course begins September 8th. Registration is open through September 15th.
If you feel called to step into this learning journey, we invite you to join us.
👉 Learn more and register here

Let us walk together — not to take, but to give. To become kin again.