The leaves that heal

Herbal knowledge

is being kept alive
By SALWA FARAH

WE WALK amongst them every

time we hike through the woods,

bul rarely do we recognize them or

their healing qualities.

They are the plants that grow
around us, the common berries,
trees, the prickly weeds and roots.

And ‘aboriginal people have
known “about their healing
properties for generations.

Vera Henry, a Tsimshian elder
living at Kitsumkalum, has retained
a lot of the knowledge and wisdom
that was passed on to her from her
grandmother.

“They call me the resident
elder,’’ she jokes,
Henry’s appearance doesn’t

betray her age which is still young
and supple, and at 72 years of age,
she has a Jot of advice to pass on to
others.

Henry was a public health worker
for 20 years and often acted as an
interpreter on reserves in the north-
west.

In 1983, Henry was treated for
breast cancer but later got a life
‘threatening infection from one of
the stitches that went undetected.

She attributes the improvement of
her health to the healing plants she
regularly. consumed, like devil’s
club tea.

‘I took a lot of Indian medicine,
drank lots of yew tree tea and ale
lots of Indian food,’’ she says.

Nancy Turner, from the Univer-
sity of Victoria environmental

“studies department, has written
many books about healing and food
plants used by British Columbia
native people.

“Devii's club is related to
ginseng — some people feel that it

KITSUMKALUM

ELDER Vera Henry wants to make sure

aboriginal knowledge about the medicinal uses of plants continues
to pass down with each new generation.

must be an immune enbancer,”’
said Turner.

Henry may not have been fully
aware of the chemical properties of
yew tree bark, but the tree has been
harvested to fight cancer.

*Yew tree bark is the source of a
dmg called taxol —— it is used in the
treatment of ovarian cancer and
other types of cancer,’’ explained
Turner.

Because of its strength and
rigidity, yew tree bark was also tra-
ditionally used for making arrows
and digging sticks.

Devil’s club, so called for it’s
prickly branches, is good for curing
anything from common colds to
tuberculosis, says Henry.

She said that when she was grow-
ing up there were a lot of cases of
TB, or as it was known then, con-
sumption. Those who listened to
the elders and followed the tradi-
tional diel, survived the many

breakouts of TB.

Only the white pulpy flesh un-
demeath the thin layer of green
bark bencath the rough devil’s club
stem is used.

The white sap could be rolled into
a ball and placed under the tongue
or it could be made into a tea,

She demonstrates by taking a
knife and curling back the rough
bark and = extracting about a
tablespoon of the pungent smelling
bark.

‘You boil it in water for 45
minutes in an enamel pot — always
use an enamel pot otherwise the
metals will spoil the proteins — it’s
also very bitter tea,’”’

To cut the bitterness of the tea,
she adds sweet root to make it more
palatable, ,

‘You can eat it without cooking
it —— it’s good for sore throats and
olher throat viruses,"’ she says

about the sweet root.

The sweet root (also known as
sweet cicely or dry land parsnip)
tastes a lot like  sore-throat
lozenges, with a mild lingering
licorice after-taste,

Another staple to Henry's diet is
Labrador tea — or as she jokingly
calls it —- Hudson’s Bay tea, in
reference to the colonizers’ knack
for capitalizing on its healing
qualities.

This oily smelling lea is gaod for
cleansing the blood and healing
stomach ulcers.

“It’s good for elders who haven’t
been cating — it stimulates the ap-
petile,”’

In 1992, Henry, her daughter and
her grandchild were involved in a
serious car accident that left her
wheelchair-bound for two years.

Again, she attributes her good
health to the traditional diet and
herbs.

She chose balsam to smoke her
fish on. Balsam is good for healing
broken bones and casing the pain
from arthritis. .

Alder is another popular wood for
smoking fish on. The sap was used
to cure cold sores in the mouth.

But that’s not to say that you

won't find a bottle of aspirin in her
medicine cupboard. She takes the

best of both worlds, the traditional .

and the modern.

“¥You won't find anything to re-
place aspirin,’’ she jokes.

Even though she carefully ob-
served her grandmother as a child
(who lived to be 106}, many of the

finer and more specific uses of .

plants have been lost.

But the knowledge of traditional
uses of healing plants is an impor-
tant part of the cultural heritage and
will continue to be perpetuated
from one generation to the next.

He’s a storehouse of plant knowledge

THERE IS an overwhelming amount of in-
formation on native B.C, plants that are edible
or have healing properties.

And Terrace resident Lee Oates has made the
massive undertaking of compiling the tradi-
tional, historical and pharmaceutical uses of
those plants his personal mission.

Oates, who is a psychologist at Terrace Men-
tal Health, is really a botanist at heart and has
pursued what he calls his hobby for over 30
years now...) DT

“Most of what I know comes out of books,”
he explained, pointing to the hundreds of books
that line the walls of his apartment.

And on his computer, he has over 300 dif-
ferent plants, their uses around the world, their
chemical composition, and their harvesting.
“Usually when you have a plant that works
— its use is widespread,’’ he explained.

Oates believes that a lot of information on tra-
ditional healing medicines has been lost or dis-
torted. He attributes much of this to residential
schools and missionaries — separating the med-

- icine from the spiritual.

“The missionaries banned anything that was

native saying that the only proper thing to use is
white medicine.”
- While most of the plants do have a
pharmaceutical component to them, Oates says
that the sense of a spiritual belief is an impor-
tant element in the effectiveness of the plant,

Oates is glad to share his information with |

others, but he understands why some aboriginal
people are now reluctant to do the same.
“Every time someone finds a medicinal plant

LEE OATES has a massive collection of in-
formation on traditional plant uses,

they wipe out the whole plant — a lot of medi-
cine people don’t talk about if,”” he explained.
He gives the example of the yew tree that the
Haida have been using for generations.
When it was discovered that one of the chemi-
cal components of the bark — taxol — was an
effective drug for the treatment of ovarian and

-breast cancer, the yew trec was nearly

obliterated.

Some nalive people worry that once a plant's
healing quality is discovered, then they will get
caught up in a war between the government and
the pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Neil Towers, a professor of botany with

the University of British Columbia, has been re-
searching plants for over 30 years. He
sympathizes with that perspective.

“The fess said the better,” he said, ‘‘It’s bec-

oming very unpleasant -— the government is .

eventually going to say you’re not allowed to
use them.”’

Towers also said that the pharmaceutical com-
panies are not interested in wild crops, but in-
stead, they would prefer to harvest the crops,
like they do with opium:alkaloids such as, mor-
phine. :

He explained that it takes years and millions
of dollars for a company to research and effec-
tively use a plant’s healing component.

Towers also wams that many of the traditional
plants could be poisonous with long term usage
causing serious side-effects.

“The yew tree is a poisonous tree,’’ he said
and was astonished to hear that many aboriginal
people used it in a tea.

But he confirms that devil’s club, a staple of
healing plants, docs in fact have chemical
properties used in the treatment of tuberculosis.

However, because of the complex nature of
the chemicals, they are difficult to extract and
duplicate and are more effective when used in a
traditional manner — like lea,

“We're looking for magic bullets,’’ he said
about the type of rescarch his department does,

adding that many of the traditional plants con-.

tain a mixture of crude extracts and many dif-

ferent chemicals that are difficult to isolate.
Traditional plants will likely continue to be

used, as they have been from time immemorial.

In the womb of
the sweat lodge

By SALWA FARAH
IT IS ONLY the ground beneath
ine that keeps me from melting into
the surrounding darkness.

All ‘the boundaries around me
have disappeared — it is almost
like I have become one with the
water, earth, wind and fire.

Bot I feel safe and secure, like an
-wiborn child floating inside a
mother’s womb — lulled by the
steady rhythm of the drum —
mother nature’s heartbeat,

There is no other way to explain a
sweat lodge ceremony than to ex-
perience it first hand, said Joanne
Peters, a. pipe cartier and coor-
dinator a¢ Native Mental Health in

‘Terrace.
Peters earned the title of pipe car-
rier only after fasting and seeking
- the guidance of medicine people.
She started with her own healing
before. extending herself to helping
others,
_“€4Jn order for people to ‘reach full
~ potential, ‘they have. to start with
heallng themselves — and find a
place where they can feel safe,’’
she explained.

Residentlal schools and miis-
“sionaries saw the demise of the
sweal lodge ceremony along with
- the burning of ceremonial objects
~. sacred to ative ritual.

“We were taught to believe that
“they were pagan rituals — ways of
the devil, but they weren’t.’”

It is only now that more and more

\

people are embracing the healing
nature of the sweat lodge. Not only
does one physically shed the im-
purity of the body, but of the mind

as well.
Peters uses the sweat ladge for

healing victims of abuse — drug,
alcohol, physical and emotional.
People come to her when they have
no other way to tum but inward.

I sit cross-legged inside the bent
willow structure next to Peters, fol-
lowing her instructions as she
guides the ceremony.

Above me hangs a white cloth
with tobacco wrapped in it. I am
silting on the north side, represent-
ing the white nation, the physical
element, the people of the fire.

The door faces the east, and
above it hangs a yellow cloth,
representing the mental capacity —
south is red, representing the earth,
the spiritual and west is black, the
people of the water, representing
the emotional element.

The tobacco wrapped in these
bundles {s a gift to the four races,
the same four elements that en-
compass our being.

I am apprehensive as the first
rocks are brought in, each one wel-
comed into the lodge with buffalo
sage and sweet grass — the racks
have been heating in the sacred fire
for a few hours now, and they are
glowing and irradiant, like the lava
from deep within the earth’s core.

The lodge warms up quickly, and

MELTING INTO DARKNESS: Reporter Salwa Farah experiences

firsthand the sweat lodge — used here to treat abuse victims.

after the first seven rocks are
brought in, the door is closed and
the temperature increases dramati-
cally. .

Peters explains that there will be
four sessions, the first a personal
prayer, then one for the women,
one for the men and finally a
thanksgiving prayer, an ack-
nowledgment of what we have and

where we are.
She sprinkles water mixed with

sage on the rocks, and the steam
engulfs the darkness, increasing the
temperature even more,

I instantly began to sweat, and
my breathing slows down.

It was perhaps with the second
session that I felt the weakest, all
my defences melting away — ] felt
bumbied.

After the third session, we shared
fish, berries and water, this helped
replenish me for the last round.

The Jast seven of the 28 rocks —
representing the moon’s cycle ——
were brought in and we each gave
thanks lo what the Creator had
given us.

After the ceremony was over, the
door was opened and a cold rush of
air came in, reminding me of the
outside world that had, for just a
small-instant, stood still,

There were no devils leaping out
of flames — only silent prayers as
we each reflected on our inner
selves and others.

The four cloths representing all of
humanity will remain in the lodge

for about a month when Peters will |

hang them out in a natural setting.

The other people in the sweat
were seasoned pros and they rated
it as a ‘‘grandmother sweat’’, a
mellow and slow one — again, I
felt humbled. -

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 24, 1997 - AS

~ The Mail Bag

Uncooperative PPWC
gets unjust reward

Dear Sir:

So the party was held: egos blatant, hands made sore
with with exuberant grectings, self -congratulation
gone public, Bankruptcy and the unemployment of
nine thousand persons had just been eluded.

The Premier himself appeared in Prince Rupert to
share in the warm glow of success. But when we con-
sider what this success means as it apptles to the whole
of Skcena Cellulose, a few pressing questions remain.

While the PPWC has been well rewarded for their
repzted militancy and non-productivity, the positive ef-
forts of the other unions working for Skeena Cellulose
were largely ignored.

When the banks proposed a spirit of cooperation (as
in job flexibility) to the PPWC to ensure viability of
the pulp mill and therefore its regional counterparts, the
plan was met by the PPWC’s outrage. Then Dan Miller
stepped in on behalf of the pulp mill union.

With his “better business plan’, a 10 per cent wage
deferral -— in exchange for 20 per cent ownership —
the PPWC was well protected.

But who was protecting the workers of the other
unions who had consistently dedicated their coopera-
tive hard work lo ensure the solid wood mills continued
viability and productivity?

During the long period of uncertainty, the entire
focus was on Prince Rupert and the pulp mill, Loggers,
millworkers, and other businesses across the norihwest
whose livelihood and employment also depended on
the continuation of SCI, were disregarded.

We did not hear Helmut Giesbrecht pounding the
table to demand recognition of the efforts of local
workers aud contractors.

While carefully contrived letters and press slatements
are placed strategically in local newspapers to bolster
Helmut’s lacklustre reputation, few believe their .
validity. Does not action, or lack of it, speak louder
than words?

The government has promised to insert 149 million
taxpayer dollars (part of which are PPWC wage guar-

_atees) to assist in making the company viable, netling
a 45 per cent share of the company. .

An immediate handover of 20 per cent was given to
the PPWC to take the sting out of the wage rollback
representing $25 million over 7 years.

Local Repap creditors have ‘‘invested’’ (been in-
veigled out of) approximately $100 million and for this
they might receive a 10 per cent share in the reworked
plan. Is there not something wrong, with the math?

Fiually, it is requisite to ask what message this entire
debacle sends to potential investors, The answer taust
be ihat the province will not tolerate free market nego-
liation, unhindered by governmental ineddling.

There was a collective sigh of relief across the region
when it was learned the PPWC had accepted the
proposal in principle, Once again we had been rescued
by a bandaid solution.

However, it would appear that we may be suffering
from Patty Hearst syndrome; we have been braist-
washed to believe our captors have become our
saviours.

Linda Hawes
Terrace, B.C.

Recall effort defended

Dear Sir:

The letter written by Al Lehmann (‘Secretive recall
‘sour grapes’ ’ Terrace Standard Sept. 17) Taises some
interesting points. Mr. Lehmann, here are the specific
answers Which you requested.

1. Mr. Lehmann, you say that our recall ad is of-
fensive and seeks to achieve a political end. What you
don’t seem to understand is that Helmut Giesbrecht
represents us by virtue of consent given to him by the
electorate of Skeena.

As he has failed to represent us adequately and fairly,
the Recall Act gives us the right to withdraw our con-
sent. What is offensive or political about that?

You say that we are being secretive. If you or anyone
else has questions regarding recall you may call or fax
638-7739.

2. Mr. Lehmann, you asked where the Recall Com-
mittee’s funding is coming from. All funding has come
froin within the Skecna riding, .

You ask who we are, We are several hundred citizens
all from the Skeena riding from all walks of life and
from all political stripes.

3. Mr. Lehmann, you ask what specific grievances we
seek to redress. There is only one — thal of representa-
tion. Ask yourself honestly whom Helmut represents
— the electorate of Skeena or the NDP party?

Mr, Giesbrecht and a lot of other MLAs in the house
have forgotten that they work for the citizens of their

riding. Taking back the mandate of even onc MLA will
send a reminder that will be heeded by all for years to
come.

4, Mr. Lehmann, you wonder how a new MLA would
magically fix everything. He probably won’t, but you
can be assured that after recall Helmut’s replacement
will be far more responsive and honest with the elec-
torate than Helmut has been.

5. Mr. Lehmann, you state that the time Hehnut
spends defending himself from recall is counterproduc-
tive. By this statement you imply that Helmut spends
time doing something productive, There are many
people in this riding who disagree with you.

Had Helmut spent his time representing all of the
citizens of Skeena in an equal and unprejudiced man-
ner be wouldn’t now be facing the termination of his
employment.

6. You say that you won’t be supporting our cause,
Mr. Lehinanna. Fair comment. We respect your right to
your opinion, Perhaps you could cxtend the same
courtesy to us. oo

Lorne Sexton, chairman
Committee to Recall Helmut Glesbrecht

A bit too Liberal

Dear Sir:
] read In last week's Terrace Standard about a move-
ment to have our MLA Helmut Glesbrecht recalled.
My question is this: Who are we going to vote for?’
The tikes of Gordon Campbell or David Anderson,
who sold B.C, out to the yanks over the fishing?
Lindesay Burnett...
Terrace B.C,

' MORE LETTERS PAGE AG