Assignment
Medicine Pouch: A Journey of the Heart
To close your learning journey in this unit, you are invited to learn about the significance of making a medicine pouch or medicine bag through cultural appreciation. The lesson provided here about the medicine bag is a compilation of teachings shared with the program by the late Elder Joseph McQuabbie and Indigenous faculty of the Centennial College Indigenous Knowledges Program. You will use the knowledge gained in this part of the Topic to help you complete Graded Activity.
To begin this lesson, it is essential to know that traditionally a medicine bag represents your heart. You put into your medicine bag medicines or items that are "good" medicine for your heart and good for your well-being as a person. Anyone can have a medicine bag, but it is essential to recognize that the meaning and intent have been passed on through Indigenous communities over many generations. As with all Indigenous teachings, it is important to remember to honour and respect the root of that knowledge base when making, wearing, or sharing knowledge about your own medicine bag should you ever choose to create one yourself.
Traditionally medicine pouches can come in many shapes and sizes. A traditional medicine pouch may be small and hang on a long cord or strap around your neck, close to your heart. When you choose an item to place into your medicine bag, remember it represents your heart, and as such, the item should bring good medicine to you. This means the item can be physical medicine, like a traditional plant, or simply an item that helps you form good thoughts. For example, a small child might choose to keep their favourite tiny toy in their medicine bag; an adult may decide to keep a religious item, a family memento, or another special item. Items are chosen that typically hold special significance and remind the person to cultivate good intentions and thoughts. Some individuals may choose to keep ceremonial tobacco or other medicines in their pouch, close to their heart for spiritual reasons, or to have access to for ceremony or other cultural purposes.
Keeping the purpose of a medicine bag in mind, you are asked to watch the following video with Métis teacher Kathleen Coleclough from the Smithsonian Institute as she walks her audience through the process of making a medicine pouch from leather in the video "How to Make a Leather Pouch: Step-by-Step with Kathleen Coleclough".
If you have materials at home that could be used to make your own medicine bag, you may opt to try this activity yourself while watching the video. Ideally, if you do make your own medicine bag, you should try to use natural materials, like cotton and leather, but if you do not have access to that right now, it is ok to use a substitute to practice with. Indigenous communities traditionally use natural materials like leather and sinew so that the object can be returned to the earth naturally without leaving a trace or littering if it is ever lost, discarded, or no longer needed.
As you watch the video consider the following reflective questions. You will be asked to revisit these questions to Complete Graded Activity:
A. What item would you want to include in your medicine bag if you were to make one?
B. What is the significance of the item you choose? Be sure to consider why the item you have chosen is important to you and why you believe the item is "good medicine" for you as a person.
C. How is the practice of making a medicine bag through this lesson different than appropriating a medicine bag through purchase or other means?