Tid Bits

Modern medicine has learned much from aboriginal healing tradition. There is much more to learn. Check out these Tidbits.

• Sweet grass grows on the prairie and was collected individually and then braided together. It is one of the most important spiritual items and components used in Aboriginal ceremonies
• Sweet grass is commonly found on the prairie. It has flat leaves and green flowers that bloom for three months every summer
• White Birch was used for more than just healing. It’s bark was also used to make baskets, dishes and fans
• White birch trees start out with brown bark, and gradually turn white, and may turn black when old Aboriginal people would sometimes chew lumps of spruce or pine sap
• It usually takes 10-12 years before the bark on a White Birch tree actually looks white!
• The sap from a White Birch tree can be boiled to make tasty syrup.
• Along time ago there was no such thing as chewing gum, so aboriginal people would some times chew parts of the White Birch as gum
• The berries from the Bearberry or Kinnikinnik plant sometimes resemble small apples
• Ingesting too much Bearberry or Kinnikinnik can make your urine GREEN!
• Bearberry or Kinnikinnik is commonly found in open woods or on dry, sandy hillsides
• Sweet grass is usually dried, braided, and burned for use in Aboriginal ceremonies
• Birch contains methyl salicylate, which can relieve pain and reduce irritation.