Rooted in Gwekwaadziwin: Season 2, Episode 7 - Corey McDonald

In this episode of Rooted in Gwekwaadziwin, we sit down with Corey MacDonald, Land-Based Lead Facilitator with Noojmowin Teg. Corey shares his journey growing up on Manitoulin, leaving home to explore the world — including a memorable season working as an au pair in Switzerland — and eventually returning to the Island with a renewed connection to hiking, harvesting, and land-based living.

We talk about learning food systems through experience rather than theory, his transition from vegetarian ethics into hunting and harvesting, and the teachings that come with taking a life, preparing meat, and feeding community. Corey reflects on buck fever, breaking down his first deer, trapline stories, beaver tail experiments, and teaching youth through hands-on land-based programming — from Nerf-gun deer targets to full deer breakdowns in the classroom.

Throughout the conversation, we return to the teaching of gwekwaadziwin — honesty. Honesty with ourselves, with the land, and with those we teach.