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Carl Jr Kodakin-Yakeleya will be leading medicine walks this weekend as part of the NWT Culinary Festival in Yellowknife.
With Ever Good Medicine, Kodakin-Yakeleya teaches about the traditional values of plant medicine, which participants can expect to learn about at this year’s festival.
Saturday’s walk is titled The Hunter’s Medicine Walk. Running from 1 to 3pm, the walk aims to teach participants how to be a respectful harvester and hunter as well as medicines you can use for cuts, bruises, bug bites, and bug repellent. It will cover “plants that you should be looking out for to help you hunt, and things to watch out for,” Kodakin-Yakeleya said.
Sunday’s walk is called Spill the Tea: The Top Medicinal Teas of Denendeh. From 1 to 3pm, the walk will explore plants that can be used for food and medicine.
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Kodakin-Yakeleya also plans to share spiritual teachings during the walks.
“I’ll teach them why we pay the land,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we need to do to respect the animals and the plants… we show the respect to them because we’re on their land.”
Kodakin-Yakeleya said he hopes people will take away respect for plants, animals and the land as well as the message that “we don’t sell medicine.”
“If you’re gonna use the medicine, don’t sell it,” he said. “It’s to give away or to make it for somebody.”
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“Pick what you only need, not what you want.”
One of his favourite parts of leading medicine walks, Kodakin-Yakeleya said, is hearing the stories that others have to share.
“People love to tell stories,” he said. “Like, ‘my grandma taught me this… when I was younger she would grab a spruce cone and put it on my toothache’… ‘Oh yes, I forgot about this medicine that my auntie taught me.’”
“I love to hear them,” he said. “We both teach each other.”
The cost to join each walk is $45. Tickets are available online.
