CONNECTING WITH THE LAND
SKWÁLWEN BOTANICALS
when leigh joseph visited her skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (squamish nation) elders growing up, she was always surrounded by plants. “there were jars of plant medicines on the counters,” she recalls. “there was devil’s club shrubbery around doorways, and as a child i knew that it offered spiritual protection.” in the winter, the elders would sip tea prepared from the plant’s stalks.
plants became a way for joseph to reconnect with her culture. (she was raised on vancouver island, outside her squamish community.) she completed her master’s degree in ethnobotany (her phD is under way) and then moved to northern british columbia and, later, the yukon; while living in both places, she spent time in other indigenous communities, deepening her relationship with the land. soon, she was harvesting ingredients and formulating her own salves—the earliest creations of what is now skwálwen botanicals.
the brand’s mindfully crafted skincare is in hot demand, thanks to joseph’s appearance on Dragons’ Den. from the top-selling kalkáy (the squamish word for “wild rose bush”) facial oil to the achesoothing shkweń rainforest bath & body oil made with that nostalgic devil’s club, each of skwálwen’s formulas features wild botanicals that joseph and her team of eight indigenous women harvest by hand from late March to october. they pay careful attention to seasonality and regrowth, making sure to leave enough of the plants behind. “with many of the ingredients we use, we replant a cutting or a segment of the root so it can continue to grow,” says joseph. while her brand has also been growing, joseph has been working with native-plant nurseries and small organic farms to avoid overharvesting wild populations.
though joseph isn’t a squamish-language speaker herself (a lasting impact from residential schools, which her paternal grandparents both attended), she wanted her company to have a squamish name. skwálwen (pronounced “skwall-win”) doesn’t have a direct english translation, but joseph describes it as “the essence of who one is.” “to me, it speaks to the reason i’m doing this work: to carry myself in a positive way and to contribute to the community and the land.”