How to become an Indigenous Plant Care Fellow
Are you Indigenous and interested in participating in our PLANT CARE program?
The Plant Care Program is for the promotion of re-establishing ancestral relationships with plant medicine, the facilitation of a sharing tea circle and supporting Indigenous people from different Nations engaging in the practices of self and community care.
We have completed Round 1 of our pilot program and are ready for additional rounds!
Do you want to be a Plant Care Fellow and bring this opportunity to your community, your circle?
During our first round we had participants ranging in age from 23-93 and people representing over 30 Indigenous Nations. See below how to become a Plant Care Facilitator for your community and circle and what your role will be.
What does a Plant Care Fellow do and what is their responsibility?
Plant Care Fellows take a ‘circle’ of participants through a process of discovering the natural plants which are around us and identifying the medicinal benefits which they provide when turned into tea. But most importantly, the Plant Care Facilitators role is to bring together the circle to discuss and share experiences.
The role of a Plant Care Fellow is to:
Participate in the virtual introductory plant conversations and classes with your cohort of fellows
Gather the members and have them fill in an on-line questionnaire or support them by having conversations with them so that we can understand where the circle is starting from
Disperse the tea to your circle which has been prepared in Gayogohó:no’ Territory
Be available for the circles individual questions and host / facilitate group conversations about their experiences
Collect and process feedback at the end of the three weeks for us to evaluate the experience
But don’t worry, as a Plant Care Fellow you are not on this journey alone.
We support the group facilitator by:
Co-hosting 1-3 of the groups gatherings, if they are virtual, and if the facilitator requests our accompaniment
Educating the fellow with herbal remedy and tea preparations information
Being available to answer questions that arise for themselves or from members of their group
We provide the fellow:
A questionnaire to give/or ask each member of their group, to help us match which Tea blend best supports each member of their circle.
Teas for each member of the group.
Information cards for each member to be more informed on the medicinal properties of the plant and what kinds of places they like to grow.
A Facebook group for the facilitators to connect with each other, as well as us.
We believe that the best way to get to know these plants is by drinking them and by spending time with them where they are growing. We also believe that this connection with the plants brings great healing and joy.
One of our Circle Members in Round 1 was a Hospital Nurse Practitioner. She volunteered to be stationed on the COVID floor of the Hospital from day 1.
“The tea has been lovely to drink. It has been very calming to me. It will be a goal of mine to gather medicine for future use”
OJI:SDA’ is happy to have been a part of facilitating the plants and her getting to connect at this time, in this way.
OJI:SDA’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures
Learn about traditional medicinal plants. Then share Indigenous teas and teachings whilst sharing them with your community. Become a Plant Care Facilitator.
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