INDIGENOUS MEDICINAL & SACRED PLANTS
Tobacco
Medicine Wheel: East-Waabinong, Yellow, Spring, Sunrise,New Beginnings, Planting seeds, Air, Mind, Infancy, Innocence
Native variety: Height:
Bloom period: Propagation:
Companion:
Resilient
Herb
Sun requirements:
Pearl Sage
Medicine Wheel: South - Zhaawanong, Red, Summer, Sun, Fire,Summer Plants, Growth, Blossoming, Adolescence, Trust
Native variety:
Height:
Bloom period: Propagation:
Companion:
Resilient
Herb Sun requirements:
White Cedar
Medicine Wheel: West - Espangishmok, Black, Fall, Harvest, Completion, Water, Heart, Introspection, Ancestors,
Native variety: Thuja occidentails
Height: 46-80 ft.
Lifespan: 300 years
Oldest in Ontario: 1,000 years
Propagation: small male and female cone lets on tips of separate branches
Companion: Fir, white spruce, tamarack, white birch, poplar, ferns, raspberries, wild lily-of-the-valley
Resilient: to drought & rot
Oil is traditionally used as a deodorizer and insect repellent. Tea is traditionally used for headaches, congestion and scurvy as it is higher in Vitamin C than oranges.
Sun requirements:
Sweetgrass
Wiingashk (win-gosh)
(Anishinabemowin)
Medicine Wheel: North - kiiwedinong, White, Winter, Nighttime, Earth, Physical, Power, Regenerative, Wisdom
Native variety: Anthoxanthum hirtum
Height: 1-3 ft
Propagation: spreads via rhizomes, fast-spreading grass in moist areas
Companion: Canada Anemone or Golden Alexanders
It is traditionally used in basketweaving & braided in bundles of seven strands
Not edible, seeds are poisonous.
Yellow flowers can make a dye.
Sun requirements: sun, partial shade
Cited Works
Bennet, Doug, and Tim Tiner.1993. UPNORTH: A Guide to Ontario's Wilderness from Balckflies to the Northern Lights. Reed Books Canada.
Pitawanakwat,Lillian. 2006. Diagram for Ojibwe Curriculum.Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/transcripts/ojibwe.pdf.
Sherry Dion, The Circle of Turtle Lodge, Pembroke.
Images from inourgarden.ca
Sumac
Native variety: Rhus typhina
Height: 3-25 ft
Lifespan:
Propagation:
Companion:
Resilient:
Medicinal Properties: traditionally used for summerrefreshments as lemon-aid
Sun requirements: sunto light shade
Winter food for grouse, crows, Bluejays and forRobins in the spring.
Sweet Fern
giba 'iganiminzh
Native variety:
Height:
Lifespan:
Propagation:
Companion:
Resilient:
Medicinal Properties: used to cover blueberries when picking,
Sun requirements:
Evening Primrose
Native variety: Oenothera biennis
Native to the Americas and used by the Indigenous peoples.
Height: 2-4 ft
Blooms: summer & fall
Propagation: seeds in the fall and can easily take over your garden, biennial
Resilient: moist well-drained soil
Medicinal Properties: common herb traditionally used for menstrual cramps or hot flashes. Seeds contain omega-6 fatty acids, including gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).
Sun requirements: full or partial sun
White Birch
Native variety: Betula papyrifera
Height: 25 m (82 ft)
Trunk: 30-60 cm (1-2 ft)
Lifespan: 60-70 yrs (max 150 yrs)
Leaves: 9cm ( 3.5 in), light green serrated spade-shaped turning yellow or amber in the fall
Bark: white bark running horizontally was used by Indigenous peoples, (Anishinaabe) for canoes, wigwams (homes), containers, and fire starters, as it resists water and decomposition. Spruce, cedar and tamarack roots were used to sew ribs of cedar and spruce and seams sealed with conifer resin.
Propagation:
Companion: red maple, white spruce, balsam fir, balsam poplar, dogwood, strawberry, violets, bracken fern
Resilient: sandy soil
Sun requirements: sun
Cited Works
Bennet, Doug, and Tim Tiner.1993. UPNORTH: A Guide to Ontario's Wilderness from Balckflies to the Northern Lights. Reed Books Canada.
The Three Sisters
Corn
Companion: planting together provides the perfect relationship, produces healthy soil, shadows weeds, attracts pollinators, and supports biodiversity, and water conservation requiring only rainwater.
Traditionally grown together, the corn supports the vines of the beans, both giving shade to the squash.
Squash
Beans
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