Coping with diabetes and generational trauma in Salish tribal communities

This essay is a result of a six-month study conducted to gain insight into the gap between the use of plants and practice of culture, and community health. If we can clarify connections filling the gap, I reasoned, then myriad other community health initiatives could draw on this important dimension of the human experience for the tangible improvement of health. For several years I had witnessed the cultural renaissance emerging in Salish country and plants education was at its nexus. In conducting this ethnographic study, I had hoped to gain insight into the transformative potential of ethnobotanical education in practice.Viewing Indian country through the lense of diabetes, a powerful story unfolds. It’s a story of historical trauma, abuse and genocide; of social construction and metaphors of health and illness; and of the role of plants in building connections to habitat, place, ancestry, and culture. Most of all, it’s a story of being called home by the place, and reconnecting with the wealth of who we are.