‘Gatherings like this close the gap between Elders and youth’

Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę Elders from Fort Providence welcomed participants to an immersive medicine walk experience on the land from August 2-6.

At the workshop, organized by the Dehcho First Nations, 10 participants learned about traditional medicines as well as the many components involved in healing on the land, like ceremony, Dene language and storytelling.

“I really believe that gatherings like this will begin to close the gap between the Elders and the youth,” said Margaret Vandell, an Elder who shared knowledge at the workshop.

Vandell is a longtime teacher in Fort Providence, where she says she has seen a divide emerge between generations.

“I find that there’s a space in there,” she said. “The Elders and the youth are not coming together.”

Dene spirituality and protocol were central to the gathering, which opened with a prayer and offerings.

“It was all about ceremony and giving each participant an opportunity to start the day with regards to locating themselves,” said Frank Hope, a co-facilitator at the medicine walk.

At the workshop, Hope explained the importance of reciprocity when going out on the land and engaging with Elders, calling it a mindful process. Vandell described the feeling after putting herself together spiritually, saying you feel the medicine, energy and earth.

“How do you feel when you meet your medicine?” she said. “Sit down with the medicine and acknowledge the entire plant.”

The workshop took place at Elder Harriet Geddes’ camp. Geddes and Vandell led participants on the land to pick, prepare, store and then use wild medicines.

Geddes says her work with plants is linked to self-care and well-being.

She says it’s a “waking of life” because Dene spirits and plant spirits have been sleeping during a time when Dene took up a western way of life.

The teachings Geddes shares run deep, with ties to pride, respect and positive lifestyles. It’s all part of recovery and healing, Geddes said.

“The workshop, I feel good about it. A lot of our plants, it’s all recovery and how to look after yourself,” said Geddes. “It’s all based on mental, physical, spiritual and emotional. How your mind is, how you believe, how you do, and how you feel.”

Geddes and Vandell walk with canes now, as their mobility is declining with time.

Hope says humour is a focus of their teaching, even when it comes to pain.

“They said for many, many years, it was just two little old ladies sitting in a ditch picking sweetgrass by themselves,” Hope recalled, adding that despite hardships, they continue to speak their traditional language.

“It’s really honouring the knowledge of these two Elders. They are also residential school survivors. They’ve also been through that history and that pain.”

Beverley Hope, Frank’s wife and co-facilitator, says the group learned about humility, taking a step back, and creating a space of learning.

“The person who now has this land medicine in their possession to take care of, they now need to conduct themselves in a way that they will protect this medicine in their home,” said Beverley. “It’s a multi-faceted, multi-layered process that we shared.”

At the workshop, Hope shared teachings about going out on the land and being intentional with what you’re doing, where you’re going, even where you’re stepping.

Vandell learned at a young age the value of looking where you step.

“I remember asking my grandmother when I was going in and out of residential school, and I got interested in spruce gum medicine,” Vandell recalled.

“I said: ‘Where are the medicines?’ She said: ‘You’re standing on it!’ Since then, I’d get close to her and I learned quite a bit.”

Today, Vandell carries on the teachings of her grandmother. At the medicine walk, she shared her perspective on being present, listening and observing.

“The fullness of you is right there. Each day that we were there, they began with a prayer circle, and then they do their check-ins to see how they feel,” Vandell said.

“You have to know yourself to be in a good way to handle medicine. That was so important.”

People at the workshop harvested sweetgrass, rat root, mint, red willow, sweet gale, and more.

Sweetgrass was prepared for spiritual use, according to Vandell, who said the group would burn it for smudging.

Vandell says she would like to gather more often like this with youth, calling that kind of opportunity increasingly rare.

“I like being outdoors because I can feel the energy of the universe and Mother Earth’s energy coming up. It’s a good healing place to be. It’s so concrete,” said Vandell.

“I really believe that Elders and youth come together by doing this, we’ll begin to close the gap.”