Asitu’lɨsk – Ulnooweg Education Centre

Indigenous Learning Centre

That which gives you balance

Asitu’lisk (ah-see-dew-lisk

) means That Which Gives You Balance. It is an enchanting natural landscape consisting of the ancient Forest Wapane’kati and its riparian zone on the shores of Atuomkuk (Wentzell) Lake and the Pijnuiskaq (LaHave) River. It is a place where the ancestors of the Mi’kmaq flourished for thousands of years in Sin So’sepe’katik (Bridgewater), in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). In the care of Ulnooweg Education Centre, Asitu’lisk is a place for the Indigenous peoples of Atlantic Canada to welcome all who wish to come and learn about culture, language, ecology, health, ceremony, and science. Asitu’lisk is a place to to connect the generations, and a place to heal and grow for all peoples.

It is a place of balance.

Etuaptmumk

Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing is a guiding principle developed by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It is a gift of multiple perspectives that recognizes that better outcomes are more likely if we bring two or more perspectives into collaboration, creating balance.

Netukulimk

Netukulimk is an essential concept that guides Mi’kmaw beliefs and practices, about the deep understanding and respect for the interconnectedness of all things. The message of Netukulimk is to take only what you need, leaving a balance for the seven generations.

Help support land-based learning and healing by donating at

Canada Helps

A Place to Reconnect

A Place to Come Together

A Place to Learn

A Natural Place

How we got here

The History of Asitu'lisk

For thousands of years, the Mi’kmaq cared for the forest and riparian zones along the waterway. In 1840, the Wentzell Family settled onto what was later to be called Windhorse Farm, and for six generations they cared for and protected the land by practicing sustainable forestry and agriculture. Then in 1990 Jim and Margaret Drescher and their family became the new caretakers of the land.

The Dreschers, along with ten “forest families,” spent thirty years creating a culture of protecting and learning from the land, demonstrating the longest-standing sustainable forestry in modern Canada.

At the end of 2021, as part of an historic land-back initiative, the Dreschers brought their long-standing dream to life in returning Windhorse Farm to the rightful caregivers, the Mi’kmaq; the original people of this land, Mi’kma’ki.

In 2022, UEC renamed the space Asitu’lisk, which is a verb meaning that which gives you balance.

The land has come full circle.

Play Video

OFFICIAL GRAND OPENING

Land Based Learning

EXPERIENCE

Ulnooweg Education Centre inspires Indigenous communities via a holistic educational approach, through initiatives in science & innovation, agriculture, and health while revitalizing Indigenous culture and language for the benefit of all youth and communities. Our initiatives include agriculture, financial education, science & innovation, and land-based learning.

At Asitu’lisk we promote healing and learning with our ways of exploring, connecting, and being. Educational programming is being led by the Ulnooweg Education Centre in this space – for instance, youth recently learned about engineering by constructing a steam lodge!

We encourage our partners to envision their programming hosted at Asitu’lisk in the future, and are open to all conversation leading towards the sharing of this land.

FUTURE PLANS

DREAM

Asitu’lisk has been part of an historic land-back initiative for the Indigenous peoples of Atlantic Canada. To honour this beautiful transition, the Ulnooweg Education Centre envisions big, bold, beautiful improvements for the infrastructure and capacity of the space, including: