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Tending the Wild

Gathering Medicine: How Native Medicinal Practices Are Thriving Today

Season 1 Episode 5

Indigenous peoples in California relied on traditional gathering to provide for all of their food and medicinal needs. California's landscapes produce hundreds of indigenous plant species that have been used thousands of years prior to European contact. And many of these plants and their preparations as medicine informed modern pharmacopeia, most notably aspirin, which is derived from the bark of the willow tree. Native herbalism continues to be relevant today. There is a resurgence of traditional medicinal practices in Native communities and a growing interest in this knowledge in popular culture. In this video, we explore how Native herbalism is practiced today and how a holistic approach to health and the environment can inform healthy living.

Co-produced by KCETLink Media Group and the Autry Museum, this six-part multimedia series and one-hour documentary special are presented in association with California Continued, a groundbreaking exhibition now on view at the Autry.

Support Provided By
Living Desert
Indigenous peoples have thrived in the desert for centuries. This video explores how they are confronting threats to their environment from large-scale industry.
Weaving Community
Despite barriers to access, traditional gathering and basket weaving is still practiced across California as a new generation is rediscovering and preserving its cultural heritage.
Keeping the River
The Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa peoples have maintained a close relationship with the Klamath River. They have secured traditional fishing rights and mobilized against the threats of dams and agriculture, setting an example for Native environmental rights.
Barbara, Decolonizing The Diet, Tending The Wild.
59:40
his series examines how humans are necessary to live in balance with nature and how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to tend their environment
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