Tid Bits
Modern medicine has learned much from aboriginal healing tradition. There is much more to learn. Check out these Tidbits.
- Sweet grass grows on the prairie and was collected individually and then braided together. It is one of the most important spiritual items and components used in Aboriginal ceremonies
- Sweet grass is commonly found on the prairie. It has flat leaves and green flowers that bloom for three months every summer
- White Birch was used for more than just healing. It’s bark was also used to make baskets, dishes and fans
- White birch trees start out with brown bark, and gradually turn
white, and may turn black when old Aboriginal people would sometimes
chew lumps of spruce or pine sap
- It usually takes 10-12 years before the bark on a White Birch tree actually looks white!
- The sap from a White Birch tree can be boiled to make tasty syrup.
- Along time ago there was no such thing as chewing gum, so aboriginal people would some times chew parts of the White Birch as gum
- The berries from the Bearberry or Kinnikinnik plant sometimes resemble small apples
- Ingesting too much Bearberry or Kinnikinnik can make your urine GREEN!
- Bearberry or Kinnikinnik is commonly found in open woods or on dry, sandy hillsides
- Sweet grass is usually dried, braided, and burned for use in Aboriginal ceremonies
- Birch contains methyl salicylate, which can relieve pain and reduce
irritation.
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