Fort William Elder imparts traditional teachings with Lakehead University students
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William Elder Sheila DeCorte shared some teachings from the Medicine Wheel during her Traditional Teachings presentation on Jan. 26 at Lakehead University’s Gakina Nindinawemaagang Lounge.
“But most importantly, I wanted to share some of the medicines that could help support mental health and physical health, too,” says Elder DeCorte, a member of Lakehead University’s Elders Council, noting that the medicines can be used for smudging as well as for making teas. “So, how to use these medicines in your own personal life?”
Elder DeCorte brought in a sample of one of the teas she makes with some of the medicines and shared with the students how to prepare it.
“Many of them were happy to try it,” Elder DeCorte says. “This is just one of the teas I make, sometimes I put in different ingredients, but it’s great for this time of year to help boost your immune system, and then if you were sick, you could drink a lot more. This was just a small sample that people were given.”
Elder DeCorte says some of the students asked her a few questions about the medicines, such as about liquid smudge versus traditional smudge.
“They both have their value, and it’s most important to know how that liquid smudge was prepared and what’s in it — mine was made from the essential oils of the medicines that I specifically harvested myself — and then how to mix it with the water,” she says. “It’s important to use distilled water.”
Fort William’s Sheila Pelletier-Demerah, administrative assistant with the Indigenous Student Services Centre at Lakehead University, says she enjoyed learning about some new medicines during Elder DeCorte’s presentation.
“It’s really important for us to learn about the different medicines because I learned some new medicines today and tried different things and the tea mixture, too,” Pelletier-Demerah says. “[The students] were asking questions, they were trying things. Our students are from all different areas, so their teachings are maybe slightly different, but they are willing to listen [and] learn.”
Pelletier-Demerah says they have been holding a variety of events at the Gakina Nindinawemaagang Lounge.
“A lot of students are away from their community and their people, their family, and if we can bring somebody in to share their knowledge, it connects them back to their people and their community,” Pelletier-Demerah says. “We try to make this centre like home for students. It’s a safe place to ask questions, to feel welcome, and to become part of the family away from home.”
Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek’s Tristan Hardy, an Indigenous STEM Access Program student at Lakehead University, says he enjoyed learning about some of the essential oils during Elder DeCorte’s presentation.
“It was nice to learn about some of the oils and her opinions on liquid smudge, how the effects of somebody’s emotions can affect the medicines, and how effective they are,” Hardy says.
Hardy says he has previously attended some of the other presentations at the Gakina Nindinawemaagang Lounge.
“Not everybody comes from a place of education on topics like traditional medicines and traditional ways of doing things,” Hardy says, noting that some people do not know very much about their culture other than the Seven Grandfather Teachings. “So things like this allow the young people to be educated and carry on the culture for the next generation.”