Respecting the Knowledge of Healers

The elders of the Haida Nation, like other indigenous peoples, have a wealth of knowledge about the plants in their environment. This knowledge has been passed down through generations, usually in oral form to specialists within the group. The benefit to the community is their incentive for preserving and administering the knowledge of healing plants.

Modern industrialized culture looks at this type of knowledge from a different perspective. Its specialists seek the healing compounds of plants for commercial use, and this view does not always honour the values of indigenous peoples. As traditional ways are supplanted by modern culture and development threatens the wild plants that provide healing compounds, it is imperative that a respectful way is found to study and preserve medicinal plants.

In her recent book, Plants of the Haida Gwaii, renowned ethnobotanist, Nancy Turner, chose to limit publication of information deemed to be the private knowledge of the Haida people. In India, a recent legal decision has overturned a patent for a plant that had a history of traditional use. Many countries have enacted legislation to protect plants customarily used by their native peoples.

Link: Who Owns the Healing Secrets of Plants? a thoughtful article by Heather Ramsay, a resident of Queen Charlotte City, from the Tyee

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:12 AM on January 25, 2005