Herb and Medicinal Garden: Collaboration with the First Peoples’ House

Did you know that beyond our vegetable patches we have an herb and medicinal plant garden on the McGill campus? When this garden first was started, beds were mostly dedicated to culinary herbs, some flowers and a few crops that didn’t quite fit into the “herb” theme of the garden. In 2013 that the scope of the garden widened to include medicinal plants.

Earlier this year, while working in the gardens and thinking about the history of the land we were cultivating it occurred to us (somewhat late in the game) that while we’re proud of the work we do we are still a predominantly settler organization that was cultivating colonized land.

With that realization we teamed up with the First Peoples’ House to collaborate on a project that might at the least speak to this fact and with any hope be a way to transform the relationship between settler and Indigenous communities in Montreal and at McGill.

The First Peoples’ House is a ”home away from home” for Inuit, Métis, and First Nations students studying at McGill and it seemed appropriate to grow plants that are common to their cultures. It was with that in mind that our collaborators Paige, Rochelle, and Jess, suggest we plant the four medicines: white sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, and cedar. Three of these plants can now be found in the garden (we’ve yet to track down a suitable cedar). Beyond the four medicines, which will find permanent homes in the medicinal garden the traditional companionship of the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) was planted nearby. The squirrels really took to the corn but we’re happy to report that the squash is thriving.

This year’s work is just the beginning of our collaboration and we’re excited to see where it will go in the coming years. If you’re interested in learning more about native medicines, a small tour of the garden will be included at the Pow Wow hosted by the First Peoples’ House on September 18 on McGill’s lower field.

If you can’t make it to the Pow Wow feel free to swing by the garden any time you like and give yourself a tour.