My name is Sara and I live in British Columbia, Canada. Growing up in such a beautiful place, I loved being able to explore the natural world around me. It has become a significant part of my life and since working with kids and being in school to become a teacher, I have developed an interest in learning how to incorporate the outdoors into a learning environment. Alongside this, we have the wonderful opportunity to learn from indigenous perspectives and practices. Therefore,  in this blog, I would like to explore native BC plants and learn how they were used in indigenous cultures. I will take a look at various books, online resources and I will go out into nature to find some of these plants on my own.

To start off, the picture attached to this post is a native BC plant called Yarrow. It is a member of the Aster Family (Asteraceae) and it has fern-like or feathery leaves with small white to pink flowers that appear in a cluster. The flowers bloom from May-October, but on south Vancouver Island it will stay bloomed as late as December. This plant thrives in meadows and attracts butterflies and caterpillars.

Yarrow has a sweet smell to it, which is a common sign among plants that it can be used medicinally. Many Indigenous Elders in B.C’s interior used yarrow medicinally, particularly to treat sores. It was also used by the Ulkatcho people of the west Chilcotin to treat sore muscles. Additionally, yarrow was used for toothaches and made into a tea to treat internal aches and pains.