elders, eventually becoming one of the earliest
Gwich’in nurses. In the 1990s, Welsh was part of an
innovative initiative to incorporate a traditional medicine program into the design of the new Whitehorse
General Hospital, which was completed in 1997 and is
now one of several culturally sensitive holistic health
care options available to patients.
Besides conducting many workshops on plants,
traditional medicine, and Traditional Knowledge with
Yukon and Northwest Territories communities and
schools, Welsh was also a key instructor at the Gwich’in
Science Camp offered by the GSCI from 1995−2001.
The camp was a 10-day on-the-land accredited high
school course for upper level high school students, and
was aimed at stimulating an interest in science and
Gwich’in Traditional Knowledge. Open to all students
(Gwich’in and non-Gwich’in), it covered instruction
in the fields of anthropology, biology, geography, and
the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim alongside
Gwich’in Traditional Knowledge and oral history.
One of the most popular parts of the camp was
Welsh’s traditional plant workshop, where she taught
students about a particular plant and how to prepare
it for medicinal purposes. All of the students were
required to choose a project, present their results, and
keep a journal about their activities. You can sense
their excitement about learning and experiencing
new subjects in their entries from the 1997 Knut Lang
Camp outside of Aklavik:
Monday September 15, 1997
“[In the morning] I worked on my presentation... I am
doing poplar buds... I really like it out here. I’m having
the time of my life... when I am older I wish that I could
have my own camp around Aklavik because that’s where
my whole family grew up. I hope that I have the same
cabins that Knut Lang has here. I really love the smoke
house [made by Neil Colin] because it is made out of
[spruce] tree bark.”
— (Charlene Firth, Inuvik)
By working with Welsh the students learned that
all around them are plants that they could use to feed
and heal themselves while in the bush, and that just
being in the bush can be therapeutic and regenerative.
The students also learned that traditional medicine is
not only about the traditional use of plants, but that it
also involves taking care of one’s body, mind, and soul.
About the same time that GSCI started running its
yearly camps it became clear that since people were not
spending as much time out on the land as they previously had, they were not practicing their traditional
ALAN FEHR, ARI
INGRID KRITSCH, GSCI
INGRID KRITSCH, GSCI
Gwich’in youth learning from
elders in the community
ALESTINE ANDRE, GSCI
Forager 2 Fall 2015
49