We All Did It
- Nishnawbe Aski Nation, 2005 -
When I got a cold I got medicine from the bush. I knew what kind of berries, roots, leaves, twigs, bark, or plants to pick for almost anything that might be wrong with me. I would go into the bush and pick some medicines, bring it home, prepare it and use it. I always got better. I learned these things from my mother. My mother and all of her sisters knew how to do these things because their mother taught them how to do it. When I was young I remember my mother’s mother talking about plants, trees, and berries to my mother. My mother talked to my sister and I about these things. Many of the women knew these things, but there were also some men who had this knowledge. Traditional knowledge about medicines was passed down from one generation to the next. I did it. My mother did it. My mother’s mother did it. We all did it.
