Indigenous plant walks will transform your nature knowledge

“It’s kind of an analogy for nature as a whole,” says Ede. “It can hurt you or it can help you.”

On this medicine walk, Ede mostly points out plants with healing properties: 

• old man’s beard that can be turned into an anti-viral tincture

• spruce needles packed with more Vitamin C than oranges

• and powder from the bark of a trembling aspen, that has an SPF of about 15. 

From strawberry leaves to rose hips, every plant we pass seems to have a beneficial use.

Ede’s knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants in the Bow Valley was passed down to him from his mother Brenda Holder, a knowledge keeper and the founder of Mahikan Trails. 

Ede says experiencing the forest with an Indigenous guide is a way for visitors to learn about Indigenous culture, and to connect with nature. 

It’s true. After 90 minutes with Ede, I’m looking at the forest flora with new eyes, and seriously considering baking a buffalo berry pie.

From Alberta’s mountains and plains, to BC’s coastal temperate rainforest, here are five Indigenous plant walks that will help you slow down and smell the sage, spruce or cedar.

Mahikan Trails, Bow Valley, AB

Indigenous-owned and family-run Mahikan Trails leads regular group medicine walks in Banff or Sundre year-round. The company also books private experiences, like my forest walk in Kananaskis. 

The two-hours walks, led by interpretive Indigenous guides like Jordan Ede, blend natural and cultural history with information about the healing and therapeutic benefits of trees and plants along the trail, and their traditional Indigenous uses.  

“It’s important that our culture be shared and kept alive,” says Ede. 

Warrior Women, Jasper, AB

At the edge of a burnt forest in Jasper National Park, fireweed grows in abundance. Not only is the pretty orange flower a pioneer species, you can use its petals to make simple syrup, or steep its leaves in hot water to make a green tea high in Vitamin C.

“It’s a symbol of the recovery and resilience of Jasper,” says Matricia Bauer, a member of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and founder of Warrior Women, a company that leads Indigenous experiences in the park.

On this 90-minute, private Wapakwanis Plant Walk along the shore of Lac Beauvert at Jasper Park Lodge, Bauer explains traditional uses for plants like yarrow and rose hips (both make great teas). She also points out clumps of wild mint growing near the water that any hotel guest could forage and add to a mojito.

“That’s the thing I love about doing plant walks,” says Bauer. “You show people things they’ve walked by 1,000 times and never noticed.”

Warrior Women also leads weekly plant walks along the Discovery Trail in Jasper townsite.

Métis Crossing, Smoky Lake, AB

Join the seasonal Walk With Rooted Relatives program at Métis Crossing to learn about the connection between the Métis people and the plants that flourish along the North Saskatchewan River.

A cultural interpreter leads the walks, pointing out native plants, their cultural importance and contemporary uses as food and medicine. 

The 90-minute experience deepens guests’ understanding of Métis heritage while connecting them to the lush river valley and its rooted inhabitants.

Kelowna Museums Society, Kelowna, BC

Every month between May and October, syilx Okanagan knowledge keeper Jasmine Peone, with Wildrose Native Traditions, leads small groups through Rotary Marsh Park downtown on a Traditional syilx Plant Use Walking Tour in partnership with Kelowna Museums.

There, native plant species like wild rose, western red cedar, frog leaf, red willow and Oregon grape all grow in abundance. 

“My biggest passion has been learning about medicinal and edible plants,” says Peone. Depending on the season, Peone might share how red willow bark can be turned into a pain-relieving tea, or how the tart purple berries of the Oregon grape can be made into a jam or jelly. 

Talaysay Tours, Vancouver

Walk among towering cedar and fir trees in Stanley Park with Talaysay Tours. On the 90-minute Talking Trees tour, a cultural ambassador from the Coast Salish First Nations shares history, legends and knowledge, with a special focus on the park’s plants and trees and their edible, medicinal and cultural uses.

Most fascinating is the “tree of life,” the western red cedar. Coast Salish First Nations used the entire tree: the wood made longhouses, totem poles and dugout canoes; the bark was used for clothing, mats and fishing nets; and the roots and branches were woven into baskets.

Whether you've walked past certain plants once or one thousand times, there's always something new to learn. Indigenous plant walks can open up a whole new appreciation for the natural world around us.

Janet Bear of Talaysay Tours sums it up: “Through storytelling and time spent on the land, our cultural ambassadors invite guests to reflect on their relationship with the natural world and the living forest around them."