DECOLONIZING
We acknowledge that we still have a lot to learn, and there is room for improvement. We invite you to join in our journey of truth and reconciliation, decolonization and indigenization.Our Programs > P’ipa:m Lelum Medicine Wheel Garden
Medicine Wheel Garden
Our deepest gratitude to all neighbours, volunteers, and friends of Frog Hollow and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. With your help and support, we completed our Medicine Wheel Garden at P’ipa:m Lelum in the summer of 2022!
Hands up to Elder Deborah Baker and Leona Brown for leading the Ground Breaking Ceremony for our garden expansion. Thanks to all the BHIC seniors for their hard work building the garden together in the hot weather this summer (BHIC: Brain Health in Community Project, in collaboration with Simon Fraser University)
A circle of orange flowers at the centre is honouring all the children uncovered on Residential School grounds. Around the circle are the four quadrants planted with Indigenous plants traditionally used for medicine or food, representing the four teachings of a Medicine Wheel.
The beautiful mural on the pathway next to the garden was created by Ts’kanchtn (Calvin Charlie-Dawson) , a young indigenous artist from North Vancouver, BC. A group of youth artists from Frog Hollow’s Make It Program painted the mural in the fall of 2022.
Most of the plants in the garden are used as food and medicine by the Indigenous people who have been here for millennia. You are welcome to visit and walk gently on Grandmother Earth.
We list out some of the most commonly seen native plants in our community. Click each picture to read more.
*A big thanks to Metis educator and herbalist, Lori Snyder, for sharing her knowledge of native plants and gardening and to EYA (The Environmental Youth Alliance) for supplying us with many of the plants that live here.
Our plant workshops … …
Useful links:
- Sierra Club BC works to support people stewarding abundant ecosystems and a stable climate while building resilient, equitable communities.
- The University of Texas at Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center uses native plants to restore and create sustainable, beautiful landscapes.
- Talaysay Tours offers you an authentic Aboriginal cultural and eco-tourism experiences in and around Vancouver, Squamish and the Sunshine Coast.