"Bison is our medicine"

I am seated, with our small New Zealand contingent Karōria Johns and Brianna Tekii ), at the opening ceremony of the Bison Harvest. We are on the lands of the Kainai First Nation - one of the Blackfoot communities in Southern Alberta, participating in a Bison Harvest. The Indigenous, Local and Global Health Office (ILGHO), at the School of Medicine, University of Calgary, along with another community group are co-sponsors of the event and their Program Manger, Holly Logan invited us to join.

Our day began two-hours earlier. We ignored any fatigue of the 24 hours of traveling to Calgary, Canada, and fuelled with coffee are very grateful to Dr Dianne Mosher, Associate Dean of the ILGHO for collecting us at 7:30am. She has driven us through astounding landscapes of rocky mountains and flat terrain the ranch of Dan Fox and his wife Jen, where the ceremony is hosted.

It is customary for women to wear skirts. I have come ill-prepared, but our University hosts provide long skirts, chairs and thick ceremonial blankets to keep us warm in the tent as the harvest ceremony begins.

There are prayers and smudging. Blessings over the guns and those gathering the two Bison and precious knowledge gifting about Blackfoot people, the community, the values and the importance and sacredness of this Harvest.

Elder Harley Crowshoe (a Blackfoot elder) shares the traditional ways of his people; shares where parts of the Bison will be gifted; shares what Bison means for his people.I learn that Iinnii is the Blackfoot word for Bison – loosely translated as giving life.

“Bison is our medicine,” he says.

The stories and knowledge gifting continue until suddenly there is a shout that it is time for us to convoy out to the Bison. Grandfather Harvey quickly finishes his story and sends us on out. There are carefully packed lunches for us to collect as we bundle our blankets, chairs and selves back into the car and head to the fields.

I don’t know what to expect. Typically, I am squeamish when it comes to blood and bodies. I barely made it through Sixth Form biology and mouse dissection. Yet, I am strangely unfazed as I watch the community come together and harvest the Bison. We are joined by Transition, an organisation supporting those with addictions to journey to wellness. For many, it is their first Bison harvest. Bison is their medicine.

Heidi, a key organiser of the ceremony, offers me the opportunity to join the harvest. I tell her I don't want to take a space for someone of the land to learn. She hugs me and says: “You are meant to be here. You are on the land here and what ever it is you will learn and share is meant to be. There is plenty of work for all”. Her generosity and kindness exemplify all that the grandfathers have said today. I take a knife and slice away the fat from the dangling beast; I help a little in the ‘women’s work’: bagging kidneys and tripe. In participating I begin to grasp at all the knowledge and respect that is meshed in the harvest. I marvel at care taken to ensure every piece of Iinnii can be used, from the bladder to the wool, the understanding of the connections of organs, anatomy, environment, nutrition and healing. The wisdom of Blackfoot is undeniable. Bison is their medicine.

And of course, I talk. Throughout the day I have conversations about the similarities with tangata whenua in Aotearoa, I hear the challenges for the First Nation peoples and how deeply systemic racism (and overt racism) impacts them. I hear of innovative programs, digital sovereignty, resilience and determination and hope. I speak to the Dean of the Cumming School of Medicine who reflects on how participating in the ceremony is a critical step for leaders on their journey to understand and implement equity for First Nations in Canada. Bison is their medicine.

Once both beasts have been harvested, there are group photos to commemorate the day and chanting to close that part of the ceremony. We return to the ranch and are given hot saskatoon berry soup, each one of us holding a single berry through prayer before they are collected and offered to the Creator and we then dip into our cups. The women serve us bison stew and fry bread. I feel the nourishment from these two dishes course through my body instantaneously. The generosity continues with ‘give aways’ (gifting) of medicine pouches and sweatshirts and special taonga for the elders. No one leaves empty handed. Hearts, hands and tummies are full as the ceremony is closed. Bison is our medicine.

For many, ‘medicine’ and wellness are more than medical offices and pharmaceutical solutions. Wellness is Bison. Wellness is belonging. Wellness is knowledge and connection. Wellness is equity. How do we ensure that those most in need have the ‘medicine’ that bests meets their needs in that moment? ?

?For more see: https://www.salon.com/2021/06/02/when-the-bison-come-back-will-the-ecosystem-follow_partner/

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