Traditional Healing and Care

“Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is the popular name for health care practices that traditionally have not been part of conventional medicine. In many cases, as evidence of efficacy and safety grows, these therapies are being combined with conventional medicine.”

Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org

Dr. Perlman says, it’s not just what you do with your body that’s important. “Other things that tend to impact our health and well-being are things like gratitude and relationships.“

Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org

“….these things that you see, God created these things, like trees, leaves and everything else. There is something in these things that will help you with a healthy life……”

Let us express our gratitude for our Land and for our Elders. Let us discover and share traditional practices to care for our health and well being.

ᓇᑐᐦᑕ

Resources in this section are sourced from Sioux Lookout First Nation Health Authority and Elders and community members at Fort Severn

Healthy Living

Adelaide Koostachin was at Beaver Lake, about 100 Kms south of Fort Severn, at the time this video was taken. Some youth, who were passing by, asked Adelaide what she had in her bag and what she was doing. She saw the youth were interested, and so shared her learning. In this video she explains that she was gathering some dry rot spruce wood out in the marshes. She demonstrates that this type of wood has many uses that include smoke tanning of hides and even as a baby powder! She shares the traditional practice of grinding the wood to a fine dust and using it as a powder on babies after they were cleaned. She also shows that the powder is also good for adults who can apply it on their skin.

Watch this video and be inspired to learn and explore traditional practices. In the context of baby powder, the following caution is important to know:

As reported by Daniel Cassady on October 5, 2020 in the Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielcassady/2020/10/05/johnsc-johnson-to-pay-100-million-in-baby-powder-settlement/?sh=5ca923272c9c) “Johnson &  Johnson” was going to “pay out over $100 million to settle more than 1000 lawsuits that claim the pharmaceutical giant’s baby powder caused cancer, according to a Bloomberg report”.