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Ida
Calmegane – a
Deshitan of the Crow Clan and respected Elder of the Tagish Dancers
and Carcross/Tagish First Nation
Traditional herbs and medicines
are an important part of Aboriginal culture. Children can become
interested in traditional healing from a young age. Elders can
teach a lot about herbs and medicines. Traditional healing means
staying in touch with the spiritual, emotional, physical, and
mental self as in the medicine wheel.
Juniper, alder, red willow, Hudson’s
Bay tea, Labrador tea, yarrow, sage, mushrooms, cottonwood, crocuses,
angel hair moss, roses, bear gall, spruce, balsam and pine pitch,
and tamarack bark are all used for healing in Ida’s home
of Tagish.
 Juniper is used for stomach ache and for heart
ailments.
Alder has a soothing effect on ulcers and is also used
for pinworms. Red willow is good for diarrhea.
Hudson’s Bay tea and Labrador tea are used for insomnia.
Yarrow is really good for indigestion. It is dried and
stored in paper or a box. If boiling water is poured over it,
it can be consumed like tea.
Sage is used not only for cooking but can also be heated
and used for arthritic joints. “Puff-ball” mushrooms
can be collected and the dust they emit used on burns to control
the pain.
Cottonwood or balsam
poplar buds are sticky and
can be placed in water and boiled for 20-30 minutes. The resulting
infusion is used for bad coughs.
Crocuses are used for babies with infected gums
when they are teething.
Angel hair moss can be boiled and used for stomach infections.
Rose petals can be boiled, strained and used for
eyewash. They can be also used for jam.
Blackberries, kinnikinick
and stoneberries can all
be used in cooking.
Bear gall is dried and pounded and put into capsules;
it is used to alleviate pain associated with cancer.
Caribou weed is also used as a cancer treatment and
caribou horn is used medicinally as well.
Spruce pitch, balsam
tree pitch and Jack pine pitch
are used for infections and general cuts and scrapes. They can
also be used for sore throats.
Birch wood can be burned inside a tent to keep
mosquitoes away.
Tamarack tree bark is really helpful once boiled. For the
best effect take a strip of bark 18 inches long and boil it.
You must take the bark from the north side of the tree, as it
is not as tough because it receives less sunlight than the south
side. As a drink it is good for cleansing the blood when there
are high blood-sugar problems.
Traditional medicines should
always be prepared in Pyrex or enamel cookware and not stainless
steel or aluminum. This ensures purity. They should also be stored
in glass like Mason jars and not plastic. When
preparing traditional medicine in a pot, it should boil, and
then be left to
simmer to produce the best medicine.
Recent research highlights the
effectiveness of many traditional medicines and therapeutic approaches.
Many countries have invested in scientifically evaluating and
strengthening the role of traditional medicine in primary health
care. First Nations peoples have historically utilized
a wide variety of herbs to support their health and well-being.
First Nations people understand that every plant has its purpose
on earth and developed a wide-ranging pharmacy of herbal remedies
over the centuries. Not only are traditional methods effective
but they are a way to reclaim a heritage lost to Western civilization. |
