Wychwood Garden helps urban Indigenous people reconnect with the land – CityNews
May 3, 2024
Although it’s only a few subway stops from the downtown core, the neighbourhood of Wychwood is a lot less hectic.
Among its many green spaces is the Mashkikiiaki’ing, or Medicine Earth garden, a community space run by Indigenous people for Indigenous people.
Thanks to a partnership between the Native Men’s Residence (Na-Me-Res) and The Stop Community Food Centre, men from the shelter can come to the garden to grow traditional medicine, make sacred fires and learn how to harvest their own food.
“We have all the stuff that we need for our ceremonies, but we also show the guys how to grow the green peppers, cabbages [and] stuff like that, so that they have different things that they can take home with them,” says Big Thunder (John Laforme), life skills coordinator at Na-Me-Res.
