The complexity and multidisciplinary nature of environmental problems is widely acknowledged, and education is considered to play a vital role on a path towards sustainability. In the light of sustainability, particularly in the last decade people's relationships with the environment have received greater attention from educators, and the traditional approaches of indigenous peoples are generally presented as models. However, very few studies have empirically explored educational programmes from the relational perspectives of participants with the environment. Moreover, contemporary attempts by indigenous peoples to 'bond' young people with the land have not been extensively investigated.My doctoral research explored the meanings of 'connection' with the natural environment in different communities, which were addressed through respective educational programmes for young people. It involved seven groups in the UK, Alaska and Nunavut (Canada). While contrasting broadly different social and cultural settings will have benefits, this paper focuses on a case study of Russian Mission in Alaska, where school extensively integrated 'subsistence-related' activities into the curriculum. The majority of the community residents were Yup'ik people.The research design was mixed of both qualitative and quantitative, and based primarily on intensive participant observation, supported by semi- structured interviews with mostly open-ended questions, written surveys, informal talks and conversations. The interviewees included the programme organisers, participants, their parents, and involved community members, and questions linked to environmental experiences and perception were guided by 'Significant Life Experiences' research (Chawla, 1998; Palmer, 1996) and Kahn's environmental ethics research (Kahn, 1999). All semi-structured interviews were either transcribed from recordings or expanded from notes soon after the interviews were completed. In addition to a 'realist' approach, a 'narrative' approach (Silverman, 2000) was adopted in analysis in order to understand context specific meanings.Informed by theoretical perspectives from different disciplines, including Bourdieu (1994) and Engel (1990), the study revealed various themes interwoven in issues of education and the environment such as community empowerment, educational policy and identity. The study demonstrated that for Yup'ik people being 'on the land' was tied strongly to their identity, and the way of being Yup'ik was directly linked to sustainability. By actively involving community values, Russian Mission School became a more integrated part of the community, and there was a sign that the community began to acquire a sense of ownership in educating their young people, which was considered responsibility of school.The significant findings of the study are; 1) a fundamental change in people's relationships with nature requires a different way of looking at the world, in short, ontological transformation, 2) locally and culturally appropriate education is situated within the context of the learners' respective environments, 3) the fundamental value to the participants is that the connection with the environment is linked to their identity. The research developed a theoretical framework that suggests that education for sustainability requires stronger focus on locality, including culture and history. This leads to the necessity for further research on how to adopt this framework in a culturally diversified society such as the UK.