Reporting in Mi'kma'ki
Reporting in Mi’kma’ki is a Mi’kmaw-led experiential journalism course
A gift of medicine from Mother Earth
Mi’kmaw Elder shares natural alternatives to modern medicines
By: Natalie Mariah
For Mi’kmaw Elder Joe Francis, the start of spring, or siwk in Mi’kmaw, brings new life to Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia.
He calls it one of the most important seasons because many plants are collected and processed for future medicinal and ceremonial use at this time.
“I learned from my grandparents and my mother and father,” he says. “Every year we would go, go for a walk in the woods and get medicines.”
Now, many call Francis the Medicine Man.
Medicine man and Elder Joe Francis at his home in Sipekne'katik First Nation. (Photo Credit: Natalie Mariah)
Francis shares a story about how he healed a young man who was suffering from a bronchitis attack while on a hunting trip in the mountains. Francis used juniper berries that he found near their campsite.
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“He slept, and then they [his father] got back here and he says, ‘Well, let’s go hunting.’ His father looked at him and goes, ‘What? You’re sick.’ [He says] ‘No I’m not, I’m all right.’”
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Francis says juniper berries can be picked “right off the tree” and chewed or boiled into a tea to help clear up lung infections.
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“Drink it twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night.”
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He says to offer the remnants back to the earth.
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“You put tobacco on it and you thank the spirits for helping you,” Francis says.
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Elder Joe Francis talks about traditional Mi'kmaw medicines. (VIDEO: Paul Robinson and Natalie Mariah)
Francis has lived on reserve in Sipekne’katik for most of his life. Over the last forty years, he’s travelled around Turtle Island to gather knowledge about ceremonies and medicines.
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Now, he wants to share his teachings with young people in his community. Francis says some youth are curious.
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“I’ve had a couple of kids where it’s almost like they’re Velcro to me. I turn around, they’re there.”
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But he is concerned that a lack of interest in learning about the ways of traditional medicine among younger generations will lead to a loss of knowledge.
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“At first they’ll come along and they’ll say, can you teach me something? I’ll say yeah, I could teach you,” he says. “And they’ll probably last about an hour, maybe two hours, then their interest goes on to something else and they’re distracted.”
Elder Joe Francis identifies medicine picked by the Shubenacadie River. (Photo Credit: Natalie Mariah)
Francis says protecting traditional medicine practices is important because nature provides options for people who do not want synthetic treatment.
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“It’s up to the individual, which way they want to go. Whether they want to go with the pharmaceuticals or whether they want to go with nature,” he says. “That nature part, there’s no other additives in it. Just what you want.”
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Francis says his door is always open.
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“I help people, obviously. If they need help, I help them.”