Kuwesi-medicine News

Ancestors of the Passamaquoddy, and of their sister nation, the Maliseet, are thought (according to some sources) to have lived in northern New England, southeastern Quebec and the Maritime provinces of Canada for close to 12,000 years. The use of medicine directly from nature has been a part of existence for countless generations and was not separated from daily life until recent years.

Because of the trend to use modern medicine, so easily accessible through health centers on the reservations, most Indians in Maine have forgotten this part of their culture.

The Passamaquoddy [Peskotomuhkatiyik – bes-k'–d'–moo–KAH–dee–yeeg], were especially affected by what seemed to them to be an artificial boundary between Canada and the United States because it cut right through land along the ocean that they have known as home for at least 12,000 years

Fredda Paul, a Passamaquoddy elder from the Pleasant Point reservation in Maine, is carrying on the medicine tradition as he first learned it from the elders before him. Much of his knowledge came from his grandmother, who learned plant medicine in secrecy during times when native lore was either scorned or forbidden. His wife, Leslie Wood, is an artist who grew up in Kentucky. Since they met in the summer of 2002, they have been involved in a project to preserve, through words, pictures, and interviews with other tribal members, the fast-disappearing knowledge of healing with native plants.

Leslie's background in fine art, combined with a natural love of writing, gives her the incentive to illustrate plants and document stories through participation in harvests and time with elders. The story of how they found their way to each other may rekindle your belief in miracles.

Visit our Newsletter page for infromation about the Horsetail harvest and up–coming newsletters.