uOttawa unveils Indigenous Medical Garden on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

A garden showcasing Indigenous knowledge, and medical practices will be unveiled Monday on the National Day for truth and reconciliation at the University of Ottawa. (uOttawa/ handout)

A garden showcasing Indigenous knowledge, and medical practices will be unveiled Monday on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).

The green space of Indigenous Medical Garden will be unveiled from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. at Roger Guindon Hall(RGN).

The university says "it aims to actively foster engagement with Indigenous community members."

The Faculty of Medicine's Indigenous Program was guided by elders Annie Smith and Robert St-Georges, since it started in 2005.

In honour of Smith and St-George, and to reaffirm the faculty's respect and for Indigenous traditional medicine, the university will unveil a new garden at Roger Guindon Hall. The initiative is meant to integrating Indigenous knowledge into "institutional spaces that have traditionally been disconnected from these perspectives."

Meanwhile, the garden will be used as a real-life classroom by the Faculty of Medicine to demonstrate medicinal plants used in healing ceremonies.

More details are available in this video.