In the last three days alone, the plants in the Indigenous Health Garden have seen both bright sunshine with summer-like heat and torrential rain with high winds. We're grateful for this because it reminds us of the balance that nourishes the cycle of life in the garden and mirrors the balance we see during this time of year: daytime and nighttime are equal during the autumn equinox.
Late September has blessed us with the bounty of harvest and the work that comes with preserving that harvest for the seasons to come. After a full season of harvesting and drying plants from the garden, the Medicine Collective led a group of 25 in a tea-blending workshop that brought together community members and students to share knowledge and produce tea blends for colds, relaxation, and diabetes. That night, youth mentors from the
program spent the slept over at the UBC Farm caring for the fire as beautiful chum salmon were smoked in the Tu'wusht smokehouse. Youth were able to take part in processing the salmon the following day, along with learning to mill flour and bake bread in the cob oven, dehydrate apple chips, and save seeds; all part of their Food Preservation Day. We had the chance to collaborate with the UBC Farm establishing a new Indigenous Garden Hedgerow and yesterday we were honoured to join in the annual
Harvest Feast, where communities came together to enjoy the delicious flavours of a season's bounty.
This month brings with it many opportunities to take part in the end-of-season journey of the Indigenous Health Garden! Read on to learn about upcoming Feast Bowl meals (and a chance to cook for a great dialogue event), a convergance advocating for Wild Salmon during a stunning salmon run in Secwepemc territory, and garden and workshop opportunities.
How to volunteer for garden work days: we work in the garden rain or shine, so come dressed for the weather. We have extra rain boots, gardening tools, and gloves to share. Bring a snack and water bottle - bring friends and family (of any age) too! No experience necessary. You will find us in the Indigenous Health Garden at the UBC Farm. The most up-to-date directions to the UBC Farm can be found here. Once at the Farm, you can follow the "Aboriginal Health Gardens" signs to find our garden here.
How to volunteer for the Feast Bowl: join us at the UBC First Nations Longhouse (1985 West Mall) at 10:00AM to help us harvest, 11:00AM in the kitchen to help us cook, or 12:30PM in Sty-Wet-Tan hall to eat lunch with us. Extra help from any age or skill level is always appreciated, especially in the kitchen. If you can only join us for lunch, we encourage you to come anyway and we look forward to sharing a delicious meal with you!
Join the Feast Bowl at the dialogue First Nations' Perspectives on History, Food, and Health, October 17
Photo by Don Erhardt
The Feast Bowl is excited to take part in this important dialogue central to the work we do at the Feast Bowl and in all programs of the Indigenous Health Garden, rooted in the "food as medicine" and Indigenous food sovereignty. As members of the Indigenous Research Partnerships within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, we are honoured to be part of ongoing community engagement, student learning, and knowledge-sharing with many of the speakers at this event, including director of the Indigenous Research Partnerships Dr. Eduardo Jovel.
We will be cooking bannock and salmon spread for the reception at this event, and will need some hands in the kitchen! This is a great chance to listen in on a great dialogue and cook (and of course eat!) some delicious food.
To volunteer, please join us at the First Nations House of Learning Longhouse kitchen between 11:00AM and 2:00PM. If you are only able to join for part of the day, your help will still be welcome!
Centennial Dialogues on Critical Issues in Land and Food Systems: First Nation’s Perspective on history, food, and health. (Continuing the Dialogue on Truth and Reconciliation)
In collaboration with the UBC First Nations House of Learning and the Department of History
Friday, October 17th 2014
12:30pm to 2:30pm
(Program 12:30-2:00pm; Reception 2:00-2:30pm)
UBC First Nations Longhouse
Sty-Wet-Tan Hall
1985 West Mall, Vancouver, BC
Shortly after WWII, when knowledge about nutrition was still sparse, scientists in Canada took advantage of Aboriginal children in Indian Residential Schools (IRS) by using them as unknowing research subjects to investigate the effects of different diets and withholding dietary supplements. Evidence of these government-sanctioned experiments was recently published by food historian and UBC History alumnus Ian Mosby, and received widespread media attention across Canada. Now under the spotlight, attempts have been made to reconcile these past actions, provide support to survivors who were subjects in the experiments, and find ways to move toward a more civilized society for everyone in Canada.
The aftermath of these experiments still has an effect today in the lives of IRS survivors and inter-generational IRS survivors. Join us for a short presentation by Ian Mosby followed by a panel discussion about this dark era in Canadian history. Find out how UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems is working to address issues such as access to healthy food, food sovereignty, traditional food, food security for all and land stewardship.
HOST: Linc Kesler- Director, First Nations House of Learning
MODERATOR: Rickey Yada - Dean, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
PANELISTS:
- Ian Mosby, BA’03 – Postdoctoral Fellow, L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, McMaster University
- Dawn Morrison- Research Associate, Indigenous Community Engagement, Southwest BC Bioregional Food Systems Design and Plan
- Eduardo Jovel – Director, Indigenous Research Partnerships; Associate Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
- Jessie Newman – UBC Dietetics student
For further information or questions about volunteering, please contact Hannah Lewis at
hannah.lewis@ubc.ca.
Wild Salmon Convergence: October 4th-5th
While we work with the soil most days, our health, identity, and ecological/social communities are intricately tied up in the water. From the rains that nourish our medicines to the fish we cook at our feasts, it's important that we honour and advocate for the water and especially the future of wild salmon. We're excited to share the news of this upcoming convergence in Secwepemc territory this October!
The wild salmon need our help more than ever, and one way to do that is to appreciate their beauty, strength and resilience in their journey home to play out their birth and death in the Adams River - a river system with some of the oldest geology in BC, and rich in culture and heritage to the Secwepemc and all people who inhabit the region.
Please distribute the attached poster invite far and wide to your friends, families and co-workers to come honour and witness one of the worlds largest sockeye salmon spawning events in the world!
Facebook Invite: http://is.gd/WildSalmonConvergence
