Elder Sheila Nyman Interview

So, you have a population of people who are using it respectfully, medicinally, a group of people who are using it recreationally, and a population of people who are using it chronically on a daily basis from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. There are also the people who do not use it at all.

At age 13, I spent 3 months in a hospital laying flat on my back with a broken hip. To pass my time I listened to the radio…there were conversations about marijuana it really intrigued me. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but there was a lot of fear mongering about the hippies and the drug use and what could happen to you if you ingested marijuana or LSD, those are the drugs I remember at the time at the forefront, so it was then it first got my attention. Completely negative!

It has taken a long time and it has been gradual. Because people have been smoking it, they smoked it even before the 60s. At the time if you were smoking it, say through the 60’s and 70’s you were identified with the deviant hippies of the 60’s. It then had to be hidden, you were not a good person. People who smoked it had to hide their use.

I think that the teachings about alcohol is the same, we need to be cautious. You know that there has been so much damage in our community because of alcohol, so much damage. To me now because marijuana is legal and there really isn’t a lot known about it, it is really wide open and people are just using it, and that is what you do now especially if you’re young. I think the other side (negative truths) of the use of cannabis needs to be put alongside the promoted side of it. Yes, it has positive attributes such as aiding the management of nausea and lack of appetite. Along with pain management for some and stress management. Cannabis has a withdrawal effect for many as well; an individual can become irritated upon withdrawal. These truths need to be stated right alongside the positive truths. That way people can make “informed choices” about it’s use. Both alcohol and cannabis have their positive and negative traits.

It was brought here from European contact; I do believe it originated in Asia and it makes sense because some people say that we are related to the Mongolians and they came across the land bridge, the ice bridge, so it makes sense some of the things that are here.

One of the earliest times I had heard of it being used, through the Syilx Cannabis Group, in the Indigenous populations in the Americas was the Mound People of Ohio. When they uncovered some of those Mounds, they found thousands of pipes, small pipes, like little personal pipes, with marijuana residue in them. So people were using them way back then; of course, we don’t know what they using it for; medicine, for spiritual journeys, we don’t know, there is no information about that, but that fact that it was used is there and I think it is important to note.

We honour the spirit of plant medicines and need to treat them respectfully. The spirits of plant medicines can work in reverse if they are not used respectfully. They all have their place. Elders can teach about the importance of reverence and respect for the spirits in plant medicines. There are many used by our people from all four directions.

My advice is to, when they start to experiment or try it to see if it’s for them or not, to first educate themselves as much as possible about it. Because bang you have this marijuana that has been illegal for so many years, and there are all the crazy stories and stuff from the 60s, and now we get to use it for free. I really would like to see kids know and understand it.

I think now, more than any time, I think about people drinking alcohol until they are drunk, or using those horrible drugs that are killing them, like fentanyl and people are creating poisonous fentanyl. People are using it; young people are using these drugs to get out of their heads, because as soon as you are drinking or doing drugs you are out of here, you get out of your connection. It is like using something beyond its usefulness, or using something chronically, beyond when you need it. To me that is part of what addiction is; continuing to use something beyond when you need it anymore.

“It is like using something beyond its usefulness, or using something chronically, beyond when you need it. To me that is part of what addiction is; continuing to use something beyond when you need it anymore.”

“People are using it, young people are using these drugs to get out of their heads, because as soon as you are drinking or doing drugs you are out of here, you get out of your connection.”