Sometimes the remedy for what ails you is closer than you think SA国际影视传媒� and not always on a store shelf.

Observing and learning about the natural world of flora and trees SA国际影视传媒� the land on which Indigenous peoples have lived for millennia SA国际影视传媒� can reveal how Mother Earth will provide healing to humans and animals.

Carl Jr. Kodakin-Yakeleya is one such person who has acquired knowledge from his Indigenous ancestors about the healing properties of plants, such as pineapple weed, spruce and blueberry leaf.

Kodakin-Yakeleya said, historically, people obviously couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 go to a pharmacy out on the land when they felt ill.

SA国际影视传媒淪o back in the day, they used to have medicine people. Those people were very important if you were sick or if you had a broken leg or for anything that happened to you,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou would go to this person, and they'd say, SA国际影视传媒業SA国际影视传媒檒l make you some medicine.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淪o those are very important people to have, and nowadays itSA国际影视传媒檚 very rare to find somebody who knows about all the different traditional medicine with a very deep understanding of how to use it and when to use it,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Filling a gap

Kodakin-Yakeleya said often in a family, as in the instance of his own grandmother, oneSA国际影视传媒檚 offspring would each be given a role SA国际影视传媒� with one being designated a politician, one a businessperson and another a medicine person, for example.

SA国际影视传媒淪o my dad taught me when I was younger, and now I want to learn more about my culture. People kept asking me and saying somebody needs to tell the traditional healing of our plant medicines. And I was like, SA国际影视传媒業 can be that person,SA国际影视传媒� he said, adding that between knowledge from his father and a teacher from Deline, he continued to expand his awareness about the subject as he matured.

Kodakin-Yakeleya has since decided to share his knowledge of healing by starting a business called Ever Good Medicine while continuing to learn from Elder Sarah Lennie in Tulita, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淪he says, SA国际影视传媒榊ou look at a plant but itSA国际影视传媒檚 not just a plant, itSA国际影视传媒檚 also alive and has a spirit, too. So every plant and every animal has a spirit and they will talk to you if you talk to them too,'SA国际影视传媒� he explained.

That energy given off by a plant when seeking the proper medicine will be a guide, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou donSA国际影视传媒檛 hear it; you feel it SA国际影视传媒� them talking to you and you sense it,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淔or us, itSA国际影视传媒檚 a spiritual thing.SA国际影视传媒�

And once the right plant or tree is found, he said it's an important part of the process to SA国际影视传媒榩aySA国际影视传媒� it with tobacco, or tea or anything that can be offered as a way of saying thank you or "mahsi," in the Dene language, for the medicine it has provided.

NatureSA国际影视传媒檚 path to healing

Recently, Kodakin-Yakeleya offered two nature walks in Yellowknife as part of the NWT Culinary Festival.

During a HunterSA国际影视传媒檚 Medicine Walk, participants were taught how to be respectful hunters and harvesters of plants that can be used for bug bites, insect repellent, bruises and cuts when out on the land.

A Medicine Walk called Spill the Tea: The Top Medicinal Teas of Denendeh, saw Kodakin-Yakeleya bring participants along the Frame Lake Trail while pointing out common plants that can be harvested and used for tea or other medicinal purposes.

He noted that due to arsenic levels in the area, no edible plants should be harvested.

Some of the most popular medicinal plants were found along the trail, including "sticky" or spruce gum, which can be used for cuts, he said.

Due to its sticky properties, it closes up the cut, leaving it to heal without scars.

Kodakin-Yakeleya also pointed out Labrador tea plant, which can be harvested and made into a tea.

Pineapple weed was also found along the trail, a handy relief for babies with colic, he noted.

And red willow is the original aspirin, a pain reliever.

Preserving tradition

He said it's important for him to continue to gain this traditional knowledge of ways that otherwise might be lost someday.

SA国际影视传媒淚 want to tell people this is how we used to do it and this is how we should continue to do this. If not, itSA国际影视传媒檚 going to die out and nobody is going to know.

SA国际影视传媒淭he way we tell our history is through oral history, so we talk about it, we donSA国际影视传媒檛 write things down. So that is how I preserve it.SA国际影视传媒�

In sharing his knowledge with others, Kodakin-Yakeleya said he is sure to include one important message: SA国际影视传媒淚 always tell people to always have respect of our plants or traditional medicines and to not sell it. We don't sell medicines. We just give it to people who need it.

SA国际影视传媒淪o we don't just make containers and sell it for profit. Like, that's not our way, and that will not make the medicine work.SA国际影视传媒�