VANCOUVER (PasseportSanté.net) February 21, 2005 – Medicinal plants are deeply rooted in Native American traditions. Their commercialization and therapeutic use focused on the specific needs of indigenous communities bring hope and dialogue. This is what several speakers, native or not, affirmed during the second International Colloquium of the Canadian Society for Research on Natural Health Products (NHRSDC) which was recently held in Vancouver. Here are some of the initiatives underway.
The old and the new: marriage of love and reason
“It took three years of goodwill, wisdom and openness to come up with a small business that today markets wild plant products,” said Fred Sampson, head of the Siska community1.
This is because the community, which was looking to create jobs outside the logging sector, chose to do things while respecting ancestral traditions. The elders were therefore called upon to transmit their knowledge and their techniques of picking forest products: ginger, mint, dandelion, plantain, juniper, arnica flowers, spicy wood (Oplopanax horridus), blueberries, etc.
And traditional methods are naturally respectful of the conservation of resources. For example, only a third of blueberries are harvested, so that the plant is renewed, but also to leave their share to the bears and birds, which are an integral part of the ecosystem. Or, as another speaker pointed out, only a small part of the bark of a tree is taken from the side facing the river or towards the sunrise, because this will heal faster. .
The project Siska Traditions is also anchored in modernity: documentation of the knowledge of the elders, systematic collection of data (place and degree of collection, in particular), quality control, compliance with safety regulations. And it works: “Not only is the project economically viable and creates employment within the community, but it gives life to our traditions and motivates our young people, a fundamental aspect of the survival of our community”, underlined the Chief Sampson.
Other avenues are being explored, such as the development of a code of ethics for harvesting practices and the establishment of research programs in partnership.
Diabetes: treating your ailments with “your” plants
The prevalence of type II diabetes is high in Aboriginal communities, since it affects 7% of this population, but it hits the Crees even more severely, or nearly 18% of them.
Marie-Hélène Fraser is a graduate student at the Center for Indigenous Peoples Nutrition and Environment (CINE) at McGill University2. Over the course of two summers, she worked on a research project to identify plants traditionally used by two Cree communities to prevent and treat diabetes.3.
This ethnobotanical study made it possible, thanks to the knowledge shared by 65 elders and traditional healers, to identify 26 plants used to treat 15 symptoms related to type II diabetes.
The rest of this project provides for biochemical and pharmacological analyzes of the most promising plants in order to scientifically validate their anti-diabetic activity.
The rule of the four Rs
The Aboriginal Health Research Network of British Columbia was created in March 2004. “The goal of this network is to revitalize traditional medicinal knowledge to enable indigenous communities to take better control of their health,” said Sarah Martz. , a graduate of the Institute for Arboriginal Health at the University of British Columbia.
Like Marie-Hélène Fraser, Sarah Martz stayed in an Amerindian community, the Nlaka’pamux. Assisted by a team of elders and young people, she laid the groundwork for a project to build local expertise in research, education and preservation of medicinal plants: transmission of ancestral tales by the elders ; plant identification, propagation and preparation workshops for young people; creation of a multimedia database; and development of acceptable codes of ethics for scientific research. “We run these projects with the four Rs rule in mind: Respect, Relevance, Responsibility, Reciprocity »(Free translation: respect, relevance, responsibility, reciprocity).
Reconciliation in sight, despite obstacles
In January 2005, an unusual meeting was held at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. At the initiative of the Center for Non-Timber Resources4 From this university, traditional healers and gatherers, researchers and representatives of different ministries met to initiate a dialogue about research on medicinal plants and on Native American approaches to health.
“The start of the game was extremely difficult for the elders,” said Siska Chief Fred Sampson. They wanted to leave the place, too worried that history would repeat itself and that this collaboration would be to the detriment of the natives. I had to insist that they agree to stay. The basic desire was to go beyond a simple consultation of Amerindian communities and to ensure that they could be real partners and actors in the development of research programs adapted to their needs. “The discussions were frank and respectful and helped build bridges between the various stakeholders,” said Chief Sampson. According to him, the meeting testified to a real desire to conduct research in an ethical manner, taking into account the cultural and spiritual values that are at the heart of Amerindian societies.
In such a context of integration of tradition and modern science, medicinal plants will undoubtedly help to cure many things other than physical ailments.
Françoise Ruby – PasseportSanté.net
1. Small Native American community located in Lytton, British Columbia.
2. Center for Indigenous Peoples’Nutrition and Environment (CINE) http://www.cine.mcgill.ca/about.htm
3. This research project is carried out with the collaboration of the Department of Pharmacology and the Institute for Research in Plant Biology of the University of Montreal.
4. Center for Non-Timber Resources, Royal Roads University: Center focused on the exploitation of forest resources other than timber. http://www.royalroads.ca/
