Old Hands, a traditional aboriginal medicine practitioner, is a descendant of the Shoshone Tribe in California. He has been working for years to integrate aboriginal medicine with western medicine in Vancouver. He joins an evolving trend towards integrating these practices through programs, movements and facilities.

“I work with lots of non-Aboriginal people that come for traditional medicine because it works for them, and they believe in it,” he says.

Old Hands first began learning the practices of aboriginal healing by following and watching his grandfather. When his grandfather passed away, he took over the same task and has now been practicing healing for 50 years.

Old Hands has noticed that younger generations are starting to learn the side effects of conventional medicine and are looking for other ways to maintain their health. One of his greatest concerns about western medicine is that it is easily misused and often very addictive.

“In traditional medicine, there are no side-effects, and it is customized for each individual rather than each illness,” says Old Hands.

He explains that western medicine simply works on the symptoms, while native medicine works on the cause.

“If you get a common cold and you go to the doctor, he gives you something to suppress the cold until it blows over. In traditional medicine, we find the cause of the cold so that you never get it again,” says Old Hands.

He believes that traditional medicine looks more at the holistic healing of the mind, body and spirit using natural methods. According to him, the sweat lodge detoxifies the body, opens up the pores to allow the body to breath, expands the arteries and veins and gets the body back in balance. He also explains that some practices remove the negative energy from the patient, and places him or her in a sacred state of mind. He receives patients with illnesses ranging from schizophrenia, cancer and diabetes to HIV.

According to Old Hands, there is some reluctance to incorporate these practices into western medicine, which he attributes to a difference in attitude between the older and younger generation of medical practitioners. He says that younger doctors are more open to traditional medicine, and it’s the old-school doctors who are still stuck in what he says is the science of doctoring.

“They simply teach the exact thing they have learned and passes it onto the next person,” says Old Hands.

In addition to practicing the medicine, there are dedicated places to offer the traditional healing.

Heather Forbes is the lodge director at Vancouver Native Housing Society’s Skwachàys Healing Lodge & Residence, which she says provides a safe and clean environment for aboriginal patrons to practice their own traditional healing methods. Forbes believes that having healing rooted in one’s culture, identity and history is essential to the healing process.

“The sweat lodge is a personal journey to discovering what is poisoning your life, which involves lots of self-reflection,” says Forbes.

As she describes, the Healing Lodge also hosts many meeting circles for people with addictions and educates aboriginals and non-aboriginals alike about health and resources that are available to people in need.

“There are really good examples that incorporate lots of first nations elements into common, non-aboriginal approaches to health,” she says.

The B.C. government has taken part in this progressive movement to bring about the integration of aboriginal healing into the conventional medical system.

The Tripartite First Nations Health Plan was signed in 2007, bringing about the establishment of Canada’s first provincial First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), a momentous transition to meeting the health needs of B.C. aboriginals. The FNHA’s mandate is to plan, manage, fund and deliver First Nations Health Programs, collaborating with the B.C. Ministry of Health and B.C. Health Authorities. It will to help bring about the integration of native and conventional health programs and services in order to deliver a comprehensive health care system to both aboriginal and non-aboriginal citizens.

“The FNHA is committed to supporting the necessary work to fulfill our obligations under the Tripartite Framework Agreement, including ensuring that the partnerships are enduring to collaborate towards better First Nations health,” says Lydia Hwitsum, Chair of the FNHA Board via their website.

At the local level, Old Hands has been holding seminars with doctors twice a year, at the University of British Columbia, to educate them about the benefits of traditional medicine. He believes that the integration has only just started, and the potential in the best of both worlds has not yet been attained.

“Western and traditional medicine both could work very well hand in hand, but the stigma about aboriginal healing is still going to take a while to dissolve,” says Old Hands.