WHISTLER, B.C.
The exhibit Ancient Medicine: From Feast
to Famine to Freedom opened on National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, at the Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre and continues until December. It explores the complex health journey of Indigenous people, including traditional medicinal plants, the interruption of people’s natural diets, and ways these foods and medicines are used today. Curator Mixalhítsa7 Alison Pascal notes the effects of the Indian residential school system in causing Indigenous people to stop using medicines that were “effective and easily available.” Among other things,
Ancient Medicine shows how this led to a range of chronic illnesses. Regarding current efforts to reclaim and to reconnect with traditional health and wellness, Pascal said, “Every time we use traditional food or medicine we take back a piece of our freedom, a piece of our history, and promote healthy living for the future.” The exhibit includes related work by contemporary artists from the Squamish and Lil’wat nations.