Honorable Harvesting To Begin The New Year With

The Webster dictionary defines the word 'use' as "to put into action or service....to consume by putting to use or to take". This is a word to consider when working with medicinal plants, human history of using and discarding, or overusing and eradicating, is something that we can truly leave in the past permanently, as we evolve into our future.

By working with plant medicines we are able to offer a form of reciprocity for their gifts, by acknowledging who they are (common and Latin names, folklore history) and what they offer us, it is possible to ensure they continue to have habitats and thrive in environments which are being reduced by human activities.

This article is for those of you interested in harvesting plants and wildcrafting, either on your own property, or on land managed by others. I hope it is a helpful guide in finding what is relevant to you based upon the culture you descend from. The wellness of us all is dependent upon the wellness of the Land and Waterways, extending from meaningful and consensual relationship to the Lands and Waters through reciprocity.

How you offer reciprocity when harvesting plant medicines will depend upon your culture and what you feel comfortable with. Our First Nations neighbours will often use smudging, drumming or singing when harvesting plant medicines, as it has a deep spiritual significant for them. As a European and of Celtic ancestry my method of reciprocity is very different and much more personally relevant to my heritage, I was born and raised in the South of England which in ancient times was the tribal lands of the Atrebates. What is your ancestry and how did they work with plant medicines, are you able to incorporate your heritage into your harvesting practice? If you are unable to trace back to your roots there are other ways you can offer reciprocity, by picking up garbage in the area where you are harvesting, or giving the simple gift of water with a grateful heart:)

"The guidelines for the Honorable harvest are not written down, or even consistently spoken of as a whole - they are reinforced in small acts of daily life. But if you were to list them, they might look something like this:

• Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.

• Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.

• Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.

• Never take the first. Never take the last.

• Take only what you need.

• Take only that which is given.

• Never take more than half. Leave some for others.

• Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.

• Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.

• Share.

• Give thanks for what you have been given.

• Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.

• Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever."

- excerp from 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Principles of a Medicinal Harvest Practice

Acknowledgement - Territorial acknowledgements are intended to situate a gathering, give an understanding of all of the directions that participants have traveled from and to breathe life into acknowledging our responsibilities as stewards to the land. As harvesters, we work directly in relationship to the Land & Waters, and therefore by learning about whose land we harvest on, we locate our practice in a way that respects local traditions, knowledge and place-based teachings.

Responsibility, Respect & Reciprocity - Knowledge incites responsibility, a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the land. Our commitment to Land-protocols in wellness practices provides an opportunity to breathe life into efforts to reconcile past wrongs and establish new relationships, based on respect, reciprocity and renewal. If we take from the Land, what do we give in return? How do we care for the wellbeing and continuity of the Lands’ wellbeing in our practice? Respectful reciprocity is a guiding value in the relationships we can build with the Land and others.

Permissions & Respectful Cultural Practice - If and when possible, seek permission from land owners and local Nations prior to harvesting medicines on their property or territories, research whos land it is that you will be going on to and ask for their permission ahead of time. In doing so, one may describing who they are, where they come from and why they are there. A practice which sets the stage for positive relationship-building. As medicinal care-takers, we are also required to ask for permission from the plants and medicines themselves. If we are to understand our practice within a framework of kincentric relationship, than we revere plants and Medicines as sovereign entities themselves. In this way, we are accountable to their ability to regenerate new life and continue their existence in a good way. We may ask permission to receive their medicines and allow for this intention to cultivate our harvest practice, and continued work with medicines.

Creating your own introduction to land owners for medicinal harvesting

Cultivate a personal introduction that you can use for your own medicinal harvesting practice when approaching property owners and local Nations for land permissions and or local knowledge-sharing opportunities. This is a great opportunity to identify the main values of your practice and who you are accountable to in your work.

Example

My name is _____, and I grew up on the traditional territories of ______ and now live on the traditional territories of the ____________ (include the languages spoken if you can find this). I acknowledge my ___________ ancestry/genealogy and consider myself a ___________ (learner, helper, support, friend, caretaker) on these territories. I would like to ask your permission to enter onto your property so that I can harvest ____________, I would not take more than a third of the plant so that is able to sustain itself and provide for wildlife.

Credit from the Pacific Rim College

Indigenous Land Protocols for Medicinal Harvesting

by Erynne Gilpin, PhD