KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Mi’kmaq knowledge of the healing qualities of all that grows and lives in the environment has been part and parcel of what allowed Mi’kmaq identity and culture to survive against all settler efforts at assimilation and genocide. This weekend we bring you not one, but two great videos that illustrate this resilience.
Our first video features Tuma Young as he guides us through Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, teaching about some of the traditional Mi’kmaq medicines there for the picking.
Tuma Young is a lawyer and assistant professor of Indigenous Studies / Political Science at Cape Breton University and a tireless promoter of Mi’kmaq traditional knowledge and worldviews. He’s also a great person to follow on Twitter, @tumayoung.
Next, similar to our first video, and very touching and lovely to boot, is a video produced by a young Mya Denny as she hangs out with her grandfather Joel Denny while he gathers medicine in the woods, and cleans and prepares them in the kitchen, offering explanations and teachings at every step. Mya produced that video in 2009 for an Eskasoni school project.
Two really great videos. Check them out!
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