Interview with Hank Rodgers
Speaker Key:
IV1: Interviewer 1 (Candace Polson)
SP: Spectator (Lindsay Dantouze)
IE: Interviewee (Hank Rodgers)
[0:00]
IE: [Speaking Algonquin]
IV: Okay, what time is it? 9:07.
IE: Could put 5:07. After working hours. [laughing]
IV1: Okay, so… this interview is part of our climate change project. We’re trying to understand which plants are important to our community and how we can help with the long-term sustainability of these plants. The purpose of this interview is to gather information about medicinal uses of plant species. We want to learn about the plants you use now or have been traditionally used by your family. A copy of this transcript will be made available to you and to Ni Dakinan. Are you willing to have your interview audio taped for these purposes?
IE: Don’t matter.
IV: Okay. And I’ll get you to sign this, just for the consent.
IE: Another hundred dollars on top. [laughing]
[1:05]
IV: So, first question is what is your full name and date of birth?
IE: Hank Joseph Rodgers.
IV: Yup. Date of birth?
IE: December 27, 53. Now you know how old I am! [laughing]
IV: Do you currently harvest medicinal plants on TFN traditional territory?
IE: Yeah.
[1:40]
IV: And do you harvest medicinal plants on lands outside TFN traditional territory? If so, where?
IE: Yeah. Well, there’s… around Remigny area, way back there. You asking me what kind medicine plant you’re talking about or?
IV: Well we’ll get to that question later, but…
IE: Oh okay.
IV: Okay, this next question is… since you already answered it, pretty much. Okay, so have you in the past harvested medicinal plants outside of TFN traditional territory, if so, where?
IE: Remigny, remigny up that way. Up by Ontario side.
IV: Okay.
[2:35]
IV: And how often do you now, or did you in the past, harvest medicinal plants? You could say weekly, monthly, seasonally, only occasionally over the past year, or other.
IE: Once in a while. This one here, occasionally.
IV: Did you gather medicinal plants as a child, and if so, who taught you what medicinal plants to harvest?
IE: Grandma. Grandparents. A few of them, not everyone. Not every medicine.
IV: So which plants do you currently harvest or have you harvested in the past?
[3:15]
IE: Cedar. They used to pick blueberries-blueberry… you know when they start to grow, there? They have flowers on them, there? Before they turn to blueberries. Use that diabetes medicine.
IV: Uh, so the blueberry flower I guess?
IE: There’s the roots on the bottom, there.
IV: Oh, roots.
IE: Pull them, boil that in water.
IV: You said for diabetes?
IE: Yeah.
[3:50]
IV: Any other plants… that you currently harvest?
IE: The other one there they talk about… tamarack.
SP: Willows?
IE: Willows, birch, birch willows. Young birch willow, they used to use that for diabetes.
IV: Oh yeah?
IE: Yeah.
IV: So, which part of the cedar do you use?
IE: Cedar. When you get that in the bush, you mean, to use it? How to-?
IV: Which-which part of the plant do you use?
IE: They use the roots.
IV: The roots? Okay.
[4:40]
IE: What did I say first, there?
IV: Cedar.
IE: Cedar, yeah. Cedar is the branches. You boil that for when you have a cough or something, there. Fever.
IV: Oh, okay. So you make it into a tea?
IE: Yeah.
IE: And then those green branches there? Used to cut all that up, put that on top of the stove, warm it up until it gets wet and put that inside a pillow bag or something. Put that on your chest when you have chest cold.
[5:15]
IV: And how do you prepare the blueberry plants?
IE: That, too, I boil it, yeah the roots, there, you boil them.
IV: Okay, and the tamarack?
IE: Tamarack, I know they use that for… somebody get a bruise, you put that bark on it.
IV: Right, that’s true eh.
IE: Yeah.
IV: Bark? And you just put it on top?
IE: Yeah. You peel that, you take the bark off there, put it on wherever you get a bruise.
IV: Okay. And birch willow?
IE: Birch willow too, the tip of the branch, I think they boil that for… they use it for diabetes.
[6:00]
IV: Is it a tea?
IE: I don’t know, I’ve never seen that I just what we’re told.
IV: Oh okay. Any other plants?
IE: I don’t know what you call these plants, they grow on the side of the road. They’re flat, white up top. Used to call that cough medicine. In Algonquin it’s a long word. [laughing]
IV: Oh really?
IE: Yeah they call it fever medicine too.
IV: And it’s a long Algonquin word?
IE: Yeah. [laughing] Fun trying to say that one.
IV: And you don’t know the English word?
IE: Next month [inaudible] you see those white… just along the bush or trail there. [Inaudible] They’re about that high maybe.
IV: Oh okay. So what would you consider the most important medicinal plant that you currently or in the past have harvested? So, would you think that there is a plant that’s essential to your health?
[7:10]
IE: For the health? Yeah I think so, yeah one of them. Like for diabetes, like I said, there would be birch or cedar too is good. Cedar.
IV: Do you use any medicinal plants in your cooking at all?
IE: No.
IV: Are there any special habitats or locations that you look for in order to find certain plants?
IE: Near swamps. Cedar, well you can find those anywhere. But best place I find is near the lake. Closer to the water, lots of cedar .
IV: That’s true eh. Okay are there any special weather factors that you look for in order to decide if it’s time to harvest?
IE: Spring time.
IV: And then you just kind of check when they’re ready, sort of thing eh?
IE: Yeah.
[8:30]
IV: Are there any particular rules you use in harvesting?
IE: No.
IV: One of the examples here is take only a third of the leaves from each plant.
IE: Yeah, yeah well I heard about that too. [laughing]
IV: But I guess mostly just no overharvesting sort of thing, eh?
IE: Yeah. You know the kind of medicine that grows on the ground there?
IV: Yup.
IE: They call it frog pants. [Algonquin translation] we call it. The flat leaves that comes up there. Use that for when you have scabs.
[9:10]
IV: What’s that called again?
IE: Frog pants. [laughing]
IV: Frog pants?
IE: Yeah frog pants. [laughing] There must be some right now, there. Nice green leaves there, that come out.
IV: You just place it on your…
IE: I don’t know how they do that one.
IV: Okay.
IE: Yeah. We pick some up for people from Chisasibi. Some have really bad scabs over there. So, a full bag there, and we send that to Chisasibi. They don’t have any over there.
IV: Are there any plants that you think animals use as medicine?
IE: Oh yeah, I’m sure they’re out there animals know which- what they get for themselves.
IV: Yeah.
[10:00]
IV: Have you noticed any changes over time to plants that you have traditionally harvested? So maybe changes in the weather, or maybe logging impacts it, or fewer sites to harvest.
IE: Yep, yep. Logging is damaging our forest, there, for medicine.
IV: Anything else?
IE: Even- even the pollution.
IV: Pollution, yeah.
IV: So, have you noticed any changes in your access to medicinal plants?
IE: Well, I don’t know what to say about that one.
IV: Uh, well I know we were talking earlier about how there’s more private property signs up.
IE: Yeah, yeah. A lot of that up. Places you want to go and look in there, always something- sign there, road blocked off…
IV: No trespassing.
IE: Yeah, no trespassing.
[11:05]
IV: And are you concerned that climate change could affect your ability to harvest medicinal plants?
IE: Eehn hehn, you’re supposed to mark. [laughing]
IV: Do you consider access to medicinal plants to be integral to your way of life? IE: Yeah. I think that’s the kind of medicine we should- we all should be using. Bush medicine.
[11:50]
IV: Do you have anything else to add? No? Alright, and uh, that’s it! That was a quick one. [laughing] Thank you very much for that.
IE: I was getting ready for the animals too. [laughing]
IV: Okay, miigwech.