Picture Courtesy of LPS Website
The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) has celebrated the first harvest from its rooftop Blackfoot Medicine Garden, a project that aims to deepen cultural understanding, support traditional ceremony, and foster reconciliation with Indigenous communities.
According to a release on the LPS website on Monday, Oct. 6th, the garden, planted earlier this spring. This garden provides sustainably grown medicinal plants like sweetgrass, sage, mint, and tobacco for use in smudge kits and cultural ceremonies. The initiative supports both the Victim/Witness Services Smudge Kit Program and various ceremonial events held by LPS.
The idea was first proposed by Constable Les Vonkeman, who retired last year. It has since been advanced by Trissly Blackwater of the Community Engagement Unit and Catherine Pooley, Manager of the Victim/Witness Services Unit. The garden was created with guidance from Blackfoot Elder Cathy Hunt and support from Lindsie Bruns of The Confluence in Calgary.
Handcrafted garden boxes were built by local artisan Glen Elgersma and installed on the rooftop of LPS headquarters. Each of the four boxes is inscribed with one of the Service’s core Blackfoot values, acting as a reminder that the police station stands on traditional Blackfoot territory.
According to their online release, those values include:
- Kimmapiiyipitssini (kindness to others): Caring for the garden so that the medicines, in turn, care for people.
- Mokakssini (wisdom): Learning from Elders about the significance of the plants and proper harvesting practices.
- Niitsitapiiyssini (to be Blackfoot): Honouring cultural identity through ceremony.
- Aahsapsinni (generosity): Sharing the medicines with those who need them.
Over the growing season, the plants were carefully tended by Blackwater, Pooley, and other LPS members, with continued support from the LPS Indigenous Advisory Committee.
The first harvest took place Monday and began with a traditional smudge and blessing led by Elder Morris Little Wolf, joined by his wife, Elder Betty Ann Little Wolf. The Elders also shared teachings about the cultural significance of each plant and how they’re used in Blackfoot tradition.
Sage, for example, is considered a powerful cleansing and healing medicine, while sweetgrass is known for its sweet scent and protective qualities. It’s often placed above doorways to keep negativity and hardship out of the home.
As part of the harvest protocol, LPS members were taught to offer tobacco to the earth before carefully gathering the plants by the roots.
The harvested medicines will be dried and stored in the LPS Multi-Faith Room until needed.
Come spring, the cycle will continue with the planting of new seeds.
Picture Courtesy of LPS Website
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