Getting back to nature
Harvesting plants in the boreal forest provides economic opportunities in north
Northern Saskatchewan’s boreal forests are full of wild treasures with healing and nutritious properties.
Randy Johns launched Boreal Heartland in Air Ronge in 2018 to create jobs for local people, and to share knowledge about the many uses for northern plants.
“The forest is brimming with plants and there’s different, beneficial uses for them all,” he says.
“We have high unemployment rates in our region. This gives local harvesters and foragers the ability to make some income. A lot of people have a traditional connection to the land.”
It’s as much about respecting the traditions as it is about creating economic opportunities.
Boreal Heartland is a non-profit division of the Keewatin Community Development Association. The goal is to build northern Saskatchewan’s non-timbered forest products sector.
In 2019, the company employed 35 seasonal wage earners and bought product from 215 harvesters. This year, it’s developing online training in partnership with Northlands College for sustainable harvest techniques and plant identification.
Numerous boreal herbs grow in the region, in the wetlands and in the forests. Boreal Heartland harvesters know where to find each variety, based on their cultural knowledge and additional training. The harvesting is all done by hand with thought to the plants’ future.
“We won’t take on a harvest unless it can be done sustainably,” Johns says. “The plant needs to be able to grow back and we don’t want to reduce the population (overall).”
Indigenous North American, Asian and European cultures have used boreal herbs for centuries.
Boreal Heartland’s teas draw on that knowledge. Its relaxation blend combines nerve-calming Labrador tea, goldenrod and nettle.
A restoration tea is made from fermented fireweed and wild mint. The richly flavoured dark tea is modelled after “Ivan Chai,” which has been used in Russia as an immune system booster for centuries.
Fireweed also grows well in northern Saskatchewan.
“It’s the natural first plant that comes after a fire. It prepares the ground for the other plants to come in,” Johns says.
He notes the company doesn’t make claims about the products’ medicinal benefits.
“We need to be careful of the ethics of using plants traditional to Cree and Dene people.”
Elders advise Boreal Heartland on striking a balance between marketing the products and respecting the plants’ traditional uses. For Johns, the benefits of the project come back to working with nature.
“For me and for a lot of people, the bush is healing. It helps Indigenous people reconnect to the land. That helps people spiritually and emotionally.”
Boreal Heartland’s uniquely Saskatchewan teas and dried mushrooms are sold in retail locations throughout Saskatchewan, including Local & Fresh in Regina; Wanuskewin Gift Shop, Saskmade Marketplace and Twig & Squirrel’s Wild Goods in Saskatoon. Look for a new tea brand with Co-op this fall: Gold Pure Loose Leaf Tea in a restoration or relaxation blend will be in Co-op stores throughout Western Canada. Jenn Sharp’s first book,
Flat Out Delicious: Your Definitive Guide to Saskatchewan’s Food Artisans, is available now at independent bookstores and at local food retailers and farmgate online stores throughout Saskatchewan, along with Chapters and Amazon.