The Food/Medicine/Poison Triangle: Implications for Traditional Ecological Knowledge Systems of Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples of northwestern North America have utilized several hundred local plant species, as well as some algae, lichens and fungi, in their traditional diets. Many of these are also used in traditional healing, and some have potentially harmful or poisonous properties that must be taken into account in harvesting and preparation. Other species, known primarily for their medicinal use, also have noted toxicity if used improperly or without constraints. In this study, a total of 375 traditional food and medicine plants, fungi, lichen and algal species, as well as those species reported to be toxic by indigenous knowledge holders, were surveyed across 12 First Nations groups, each with distinct languages, for overlaps across the categories of food, medicine and toxic species. A complex of species use and avoidance emerged, modulated by processing, dosage, and other factors, with significant numbers of food species with reported healing properties, food species also used as medicine, and both food and medicinal species known to be harmful or toxic under some circumstances. Even most of those species considered extremely poisonous have been taken internally as medicines in some way by some groups. 2In traditional use, people have taken the potential for harm of these species into account when consuming them as food or medicine. In view of the inextricable relationships among food, medicine and toxic species, detailed knowledge about their selection, harvesting, processing and consumption is critically important for survival. As such knowledge is lost or eroded due to the forces of acculturation and globalization, the continued use of these traditional species takes on higher risks. Ultimately, people’s resilience and ability to survive using local resources is threatened by the loss of this knowledge. Its importance as a living part of peoples’ cultural and environmental heritage must be recognized and taken into account in efforts for cultural renewal and ecological restoration.