'Making this a house of healing': Indigenous healing garden opens at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge

LETHBRIDGE -

As part of National Indigenous Peoples Month, Alberta Health Services is opening healing gardens at a number of South Zone facilities.

"The rollout of the healing gardens went hand in hand with the rollout of the Indigenous Access to Ceremony policy in which Indigenous patients have access to ceremony 24-7 within all AHS sites and facilities," said Samantha First Charger, the Indigenous Wellness Core's South Zone manager.

The healing gardens feature four sacred traditional plants including sage, sweetgrass, Saskatoon bushes and wild mint.

First Charger says the gardens allow AHS to incorporate Indigenous medicine into its Western modes of therapy.

"Bringing these medicines and incorporating these medicines into the gardens we see today holds a significance to our people because they are traditional means of healing," First Charger said.

"They have worked for us for thousands and thousands of years. The plants all have healing and medicinal properties and were used by our people for thousands of years."

Alberta Health Services is opening healing gardens featuring four sacred traditional plants at a number of South Zone facilities including Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge.

More than 1,000 plants were planted across the South Zone.

The healing gardens and plants will be used for ceremonies, consumption and education.

"This is part of the larger vision that we have to make this a house of healing and recognizing that this is a place where there's illness, heart attack, sickness and that many Indigenous patients and families have faced a tough situation when they come for care here and this is recognizing that we're making this a house of healing," said Colin Zieber, AHS South Zone senior operating officer.

The project is designed to honour Blackfoot culture and narrow the gaps in health outcomes for Indigenous patients.

First Charger hopes the healing gardens will help grow Indigenous traditions within the health care system.

"This is the first big step," First Charger said.

"We are hoping that these gardens are going to get bigger, larger. We're hoping to incorporate art pieces next year and incorporate other medicines and plants."

Alberta Health Services is opening healing gardens featuring four sacred traditional plants at a number of South Zone facilities including Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge.