Healing through the land: Red River Métis educator selected as TEDx Winnipeg speaker

May 22, 2026

Marika Schalla shares her healing journey in upcoming TEDx talk

_{Marika Schalla gets her passion for Indigenous education from her Elders who have passed their knowledge down to her.}

Nothing compares to breathing in the fresh prairie air and feeling the earth under your feet. For Red River Métis educator and curriculum developer Marika Schalla, this is an act of healing.

In her upcoming TEDx Winnipeg talk, Schalla takes the fundamental teachings she learned while growing up: connecting with the land, water, and animals, listening to the lessons they have to share, and demonstrating how those teachings are healing.

Schalla's TEDx talk, called "The Land as Teacher: What it Taught Me About Healing," will be held in Winnipeg on May 28, 2026.

"It's going to talk about what the land can do for us and for children... [in our healing and recovery], and how we can listen to the land and its teachings to not only help ourselves, but to help the children around us - especially in learning spaces," she said. "If we take the teachings from the land and we really listen to what the land is trying to tell us, [we] can really help children heal and help ourselves heal."

For the Red River Métis educator, the journey of healing through the land isn't only a professional journey - it's also a personal one.

"I take everyone on an emotional rollercoaster on how the land really helped me heal. My whole life I've existed in survival mode. I grew up in poverty. I was a teen mom. I grew up with a lot of intergenerational and personal trauma. And in the last five years, I have been through so much," said Schalla. "You think, 'why me? Why does this happen to me... all I do is take care of kids all day as a teacher, as a mom. Why do I have to go through this?' And then turning to my family, my friends, my community, and the land, that's what helped me heal."

Connecting with the land in the heart of the Homeland is a major part of Schalla's Red River Métis identity.

Being here and being on the land, growing up with the land, learning from the land, I think that relates tremendously to my Red River Métis identity. Being Red River Métis to me means being the little kid running outside barefoot, chasing critters, and learning about different animals. So, being Red River Métis to me is being on the land. - Marika Schalla

"Being here and being on the land, growing up with the land, learning from the land, I think that relates tremendously to my Red River Métis identity," she said. "Being Red River Métis to me means being the little kid running outside barefoot, chasing critters, and learning about different animals. So, being Red River Métis to me is being on the land."

Throughout her youth, Schalla learned from the land through her family. In her children's book Stella Welcome to your Doodem, illustrated by her cousin Ruby Bruce, Schalla created characters dedicated to her grandma Stella and her papa, the late Edgar Bruce who served as Vice-President for the Manitoba Métis Federation's (MMF) Interlake Region.

"I grew up in the North End of Winnipeg, but I would spend my summer breaks, my winter breaks, spring breaks, out on the land in my grandparents' farm in St. Laurent... with that connection, I learned so many different things," she said. "My grandpa (Edgar Bruce), even in his old age, and even after he lost his legs to diabetes, [he] was still teaching me about the land, and he would teach it to me through Michif. I'm thankful I have some video recordings of him teaching me."

It's those same teachings that Schalla carries with her into her classroom, curriculum development, and upcoming TEDx talk.

"I bring them into my learning spaces because it's not mine to hold and to keep - it's for me to learn and to share," she said. "I share them with the kids, because they're our next generation, they're our future community leaders, they're our future community members, and they are who are going to teach the next seven generations. So, I need to share what I know so they can continue sharing it too."

With the help of the MMF's Post-Secondary Education Support Program, Schalla received her Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Education, and Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Education in Indigenous Knowledges. The Red River Métis educator now works as an Indigenous learning support teacher and develops curriculums to help other teachers bring Indigenous knowledge into their classroom. Leading land-based learning experiences, she enjoys creating with and teaching students and teachers alike.

Schalla takes pride in her career as an award-winning educator, especially given the path she has taken to achieve it.

_{In her role as an Indigenous learning support teacher, Schalla connects students with their identity through many methods of Indigenous traditions, including craft.}

"My education journey to become a teacher was hard, but it was worth it. I started out being a young mom to my son. I had him in high school. But thankfully, with the help of my teachers and their support, I graduated on time with honours," she said. "My son is now going to be 14 years old. He has been there with me the whole time, and I'm very thankful for him. Without him, I don't think I'd be the person I am today. Now I have a five-year-old as well and having him by my side has really helped."

This educator lives and breathes Indigenous education and underscores the gravity of its impact on her students.

"Indigenous education to me is premised on protecting the child - giving them love, giving them care, and teaching them those teachings that they know they're respected, they're loved," she said. "Whatever teachings I'm passing down to them, they are going to use it not just in the classroom, but in their daily lives. Every child has a good heart, has a good soul, and I tell every kid that... they know they can use these things for the rest of their lives."

To learn about healing through the land, Red River Métis Citizens are encouraged to attend Schalla's TEDx Winnipeg talk "The Land as Teacher: What it Taught Me About Healing" on May 28, 2026, at the University of Manitoba's Desautels Concert Hall in Winnipeg. For more information on tickets, visit tedxwinnipeg.ca.

 

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