On your next visit to The Leaf, we encourage you to come visit the Indigenous Peoples Garden and the Garden of Healing display (on until September 9) to reflect, enjoy this beautiful space, and find a deeper appreciation to the nature, plants and wildlife that shape our world.

Walk through the Indigenous Peoples Garden at The Gardens at The Leaf and feel connected to this special gathering area, inspired by the Manitoban landscape. Created through a collaborative process involving Indigenous elders, designers, and community leaders, this space helps us celebrate Indigenous cultures and their deep philosophical understanding and respect for nature. Among the elements highlighed are the water and fire nodes (below.)

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As Chandra Petti, Indigenous Program Facilitator at Assiniboine Park shares, the plants that shape both the garden and the Garden of Healing consists of different native plants with traditional, medicinal and healing uses in Indigenous communities.

"Tamarack trees are really cool because they're a pine tree that loses all of its pines in the winter and they can be used to make a tea that's really good if you're sick, if you have congestion, or if you're feeling tired."

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She also noted about a common tree in our Manitoban landscape that's more than meets the eye. “The white poplar, also known as a trembling aspen, is really useful. The white coating can be used as SPF or as a sunscreen and can also be used to put on any wounds or cuts to help stop bleeding. The wood is really useful as well to make canoes, paddles, or teepee pools here in the fire.”

Venture inside The Leaf’s indoor biomes and in the Garden of Healing display, currently on at the Babs Asper Display House, you'll find informative spaces to learn about different plants, such the four sacred medicines in Indigenous cultures - tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. "Sage is one of the four sacred medicines that's most commonly used as a cleansing in events like smudging and also a way to pray," says Chandra. 

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There is an additional table to learn about sweetgrass braiding and how it connects with the seven sacred teachings (love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility, and truth.)

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The Garden of Healing and Indigenous Peoples Garden provides spaces to reflect on the beauty nature brings us every day and the importance of our ever-evolving responsibility to care for our world. In return, the plants that grow, such as the red willow plant, will continue to care for us.

“Inside the red willow plant, one of the main ingredients is salicylic acid, which helps with headaches. When Aspirin was made, it was based off this plant.”

You can visit the Indigenous Peoples Garden every day and the Garden of Healing until September 9. For more information, visit our website.

(Watch the full video with Chandra on our Instagram page!)