A Mile in Your Moccasins

The word moccasin has been part of my vocabulary for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until my twenties that I began to form a deeper relationship with it. My husband and I had moved to a small community in northern Ontario, where I met a woman who taught me how to make moccasins. I was proud to learn the skills she shared with me—but at the time, I didn’t yet understand the teachings that moccasins carry: connection to the earth, respect, and the journey of life.

Years later, I was part of the Indigenous Family Literacy Circle when we created a free monthly e-newsletter for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators and families. We named it Come Walk in My Moccasins. We hoped the title would invite readers to engage with Indigenous stories and experiences and deepen their understanding of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples across Turtle Island.

The title we chose was inspired by the well-known phrase, “Never judge another man until you walk a mile in his moccasins.” I only recently learned that this proverb traces back to a poem written in 1895 by Mary T. Lathrap titled Walk a Mile in His Moccasins. As familiar and powerful as this phrase has become, I’m struck—and saddened—that 130 years later, so many people on this continent still feel marginalized. Equity, inclusion, and true diversity remain works in progress.

As educators, we hold a powerful role. We can bring children into conversations and experiences that nurture belonging and curiosity. We can help grow their capacity to understand, respect, and care about each other’s differences, cultures, and lived realities.

During an online conversation hosted by Early Learning Café with Anishinaabekwe and knowledge keeper Michelle Taylor Leonhardi, I was introduced to a project in Ontario that places moccasins at the heart of reconciliation. Michelle had been guiding us in a discussion about how the Seven Grandfather Teachings can be meaningfully woven into our work with young children when one of the participants mentioned a project called The Moccasin Identifier.

This initiative, I later learned, was created in 2011 by Carolyn King in partnership with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and The Greenbelt Foundation. Its goal is to raise public awareness of Indigenous ancestral presence and cultural heritage. Through it, the hope is to “cover Canada in moccasins”—each pair a symbol of shared responsibility, Treaty awareness, and the steps we must take toward reconciliation.

The project helps educators in schools and early learning programs identify the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities whose land they now live, learn, and play on. Moccasins, which are unique to each Nation, symbolize Indigenous life—past and present. Children use Nation-specific moccasin stencils to paint moccasins on rocks, sidewalks, paper, or classroom walls. These painted moccasins serve as quiet but powerful reminders of those who walked this land long before settlers arrived—and those who still walk it today.

Educators are supported through visits from program facilitators, downloadable lesson plans for preschool through high school, and storytelling videos that help children connect with the land’s original caretakers.