In this Gathering, we welcome speakers from the Canoe Journey Herbalists, presenting on Questions and reflections on relationships to healing, cultural safety and community care.

The mission of the Canoe Journey Herbalists Project is to offer free herbal healing support; ranging from first aid to foot baths, offering herbal medicines and hands-on healing to participants as we travel alongside the Intertribal Canoe Journey. At its core, this project is Indigenous-led, inspired, and works to continue to prioritize the wants and needs of the Coastal Salish community. But as a project that provides a pathway for both Indigenous Healers and non-Native allies to offer their hands in service, side by side, how do we create a community care space that also maintains a sense of cultural safety? This workshop will share stories of our strengths and our struggles, as well as questions and reflections for all of us working towards right relationship with land, healing, and Indigenous community.

Rhonda Lee Grantham is a member of the Cowlitz Nation of southwest Washington, which translates to “Seeker of the Medicine Spirit”. She is a direct-entry midwife, herbalist and founder of both the Center for Indigenous Midwifery and the Canoe Journey Herbalists Project. She balances her year between projects that support the reclaiming of Indigenous Midwifery globally, as well as supporting connections to plant medicines and access to healing medicines for Native communities here at home.

Sophie Geist is a community herbalist, landscaper and somatic educator, living and working on cultivating gratitude and commitment as a settler and plant lover on Steh-Chass and Squaxin land. She works with the Canoe Journey Herbalists Project and in thriving gardens throughout Coast Salish territory.

To learn more about this incredible project, click here to read article from Yes! Magazine, republished at indianz.com: We’ve forgotten that we are all healers: Herbalists accompany Canoe Journey