Boozhoo/Tansi/Hau/Ho/Tanche/Hello, 

My name is Josh Campbell. I am a descendant of European settlers from Treaty 6 in Alberta. I now live within Treaty 4 in Regina, Saskatchewan, where I work and play with my wife and two daughters. I am a part of a group of settlers, newcomers and Indigenous people who have a dream to start Treaty People’s College (TPC) in the Canadian Prairies. TPC seeks to help young adults find themselves and their places in Canadian society, both as citizens and inheritors of Treaty gifts and responsibilities. TPC is inspired by Indigenous Knowledge, the folk high school movement in Denmark, and the micro-college movement in the United States.  

What makes this approach distinctive 

TPCs distinctive character lies in the integration of five elements:  

• Treaty and reconciliation learning.  

• Folk high school pedagogy rooted in life enlightenment, public enlightenment, and democratic education.  

• Land-based and practical learning, including hunting/fishing/hiking, co-op development, and traditional ceremony and knowledge sharing.  

• Community living and shared responsibility.  

• Reflective and ceremonial practices that support personal and communal growth.  

Why this is needed 

Three big problems impacting Canadians today are: 

• The rise of exclusionary populism

• The increasing disillusionment of young adults with democracy, and 

• A growing epidemic of meaninglessness. 

Folk high schools in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway respond directly to these problems through addressing these questions: Who am I? (life enlightenment), Who am I in community? (public enlightenment), and Who am I in society? (democratic education). Our current educational institutions are doing a great job of offering skills and competencies to Canadians, but they are not adequately addressing these questions. TPC seeks to fill this gap by answering these, and one further key question: Where am I? (place enlightenment). In the Canadian context, such a question deeply intersects with the work of reconciliation and Treaty gifts and responsibilities. A people’s college rooted in Treaty relationships, goes beyond the mandate of the Scandinavian model, helping students not only to develop a deeper sense of responsibility to one another, but also to the places they inhabit, and all of Mother Earth.  

What we are building now 

This past May a steering committee was formed of Canadians from newcomer, settler, and First Nations backgrounds. Together we created the mission and have begun the work of developing a pilot program, which will run in 2027. The pilot will consist of a 7 to 10 day land-based experience in the Qu’Appelle Valley (Treaty 4 Territory). The Treaty Spirit will be awoken through interactions with local Indigenous knowledge keepers, participation in ceremony (sweat lodge), hikes, traditional games, campfires, music, art, dance, decolonizing work (Blanket Exercise), cleaning activities, community engagement, and meal sharing. Our working board, composed of educators, business owners and starters, folk school student and teacher alumni, journalists, and university program directors, are meeting on a monthly basis to make this a reality. Our long-term dream is that this model could help spawn a movement of treaty inspired micro-colleges throughout Canada, which all have a unique sense of place.  

 Why I am leading this work 

For many years I have dreamed about starting a “school for life” for young adults. Then, after reading The Nordic Secret, I realized that my dream was already being lived out through the folk high schools, which have been running for nearly 150 years in Denmark. After visiting one of these schools in the fall of 2025, I applied for a three-month teaching fellowship at the International People’s College. There I experienced first-hand what these schools have to offer. I am not only an educational visionary though. I am also a practitioner who has led major projects ranging from a renewable energy co-operative to an internationally recognized documentary film. I have what it takes to see a project of this magnitude through.

You can learn more about me and my work at Growing Deception. 

 Miigwech/Kinanaskomitin/Pidamaya/Maarsii/Thank you! 

Josh Campbell  

*please note that this is just a landing page for introductory information about us. A full website will be available soon.