Osha & Being in Right Relationship
a conversation on ethics, sustainability, stewardship, & herbal analogs
Osha leaf, photo taken on one of our plant walks
Herbalism & the harvesting of wild plants is about so much more than using plants medicinally it’s about embodying a deeper connection to the land, ecology, and the plants themselves. Here in North America many of us including myself are living on stolen land & the presence of the indigenous peoples here is nowhere near what it was and what it should be. This has had dire consequences for when we remove the indigenous cultures, we remove the stewards of the land. There is so much reparation & repair that needs to happen & learning about the indigenous peoples here, their traditions, & the plants they have been in relationship with is I believe a part of that.
We protect that which we love & our severance from the land has also severed our desire to protect it and our innate role as stewards. So, how do we connect people back to the land? I will be quoting Robin Wall Kimmerer a bit in this blog because she does such a wonderful job speaking to the concept of the “honorable harvest,” & land stewardship from an indigenous perspective.
“Plants are integral to reweaving the connection between land and people. A place becomes a home when it sustains you, when it feeds you in body as well as spirit. To recreate a home, the plants must also return.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer
I believe the plants to be a bridge guiding us back into relationship with the land. When we begin working with these wild plants & they begin to heal us our love & appreciation for them & the land grows. I grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado & these mountains and the plants that grow here have held me since I was a little girl. Three years ago, I began to guide groups into the mountains to explore the wild plants that grow here and how we may cultivate relationship with them. This was a big step for me, and not something I take lightly, I see it as a massive responsibility.
I remember thinking to myself how will I teach about Osha? I also thought to myself should I even teach others about this plant and how to work with it? As I grappled with this question, I came to the conclusion that Osha would be the most important plant of the Rockies that I teach about.
Osha is a plant which has a long-standing presence in many Native American cultures.
“fifteen tribes are documented using oshá and those uses are practiced today and more tribes likely use oshá, especially in and near the range of the plant. Historically and today, tribes such as the Apache, Pueblo, Navajo, Zuni, White Mountain Apache, Southern Ute, Lakota, and the Tarahumara in Mexico all have a long relationship with this plant.
Osha flower, photo taken on one of our plant walks
Osha (Ligusticum porteri) also known as Porter’s Lovage, Bear Root, Chuchupate (Aztec term meaning bear medicine) is native to mountainous regions & is mostly distributed in the Rocky Mountains, northwest New Mexico, & the Southwest.
It is a broadly branching perennial that has fern like leaves that smell like spicy celery. It grows up to 3 feet tall and is found in meadows and aspen forests of upper montane and subalpine areas (7,000 to 10,000 feet). It has a love of aspen groves, and it is often ground growing within them,
Osha is within our carrot or Apiaceae family, it is for this reason that it has many poisonous look alikes. Osha is often confused for Poison Hemlock & Water Hemlock. These two plants have different habitats than Osha & once trained with a botanists’ eye it is easy to tell them apart but for the untrained eye it can be easy to make the deadly mistake.
Osha teaches us the importance of being aware of one’s surroundings and the responsibility that comes with harvesting wild plants from sustainability to the immense importance of proper plant identification.
This plant also teaches us that the medicines of the wild are not just for us. A wide array of other species depend upon these plants for food, habitat, medicine, & more. Osha gets its name “Bear Root,” because it is a sacred root to the bears and the two have a long relationship together, much longer than our own relationship to it.
The bears use Osha for both love & medicine. The male bears will rub Osha root on themselves to attract a mate & bears will dig up the root in the spring taking it as a ritualistic tonic to clear the bowels and awaken the body after the stagnancy of winter.
I remember hearing a story in herb school about an herbalist who had taken a group of students out on a plant walk to learn about Osha. The group had found a bear which had been shot, it had stuffed Osha root into its wound just before its passing.
When I first heard this story I could not help but cry, it resonated with me so deeply. My work with pollinators has always brought into the forefront the importance of knowing the many other relationships that exist between wild plants & animals. It is a big reason I lead plant walks, to remind people that wildcrafting is stewardship, & the medicines of this earth are not soley for our taking.
“Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others. Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken. Share.
Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer
Lovage (Levisticum porteri) in our garden at sunset
Osha is so sought after because it is truly such an incredible plant & medicine. Its medicine is unique & incredibly powerful carrying with it the resilience that can only come from growing in the high mountains. The roots are the most sought-after part of the plant, but I find the leaves to be wonderful as well. Oshas’ medicine is warming, aromatic, & moving. It helps to stimulate circulation and blood flow throughout the body & is said to awaken the vital life force.
It has an affinity for the respiratory tract and has been traditionally used in the treatment of a wide range of respiratory ailments and illnesses. Its warming aromatics are helpful for supporting the healthy flow of mucus and can help to expel excess phlegm from the lungs.
Osha helps us breathe deeply and awakens our body, mind, & heart. Its medicine is truly so incredible, but it is important for us to be having conversations on how to ethically work with this plant and whether we can instead be using other herbs in its place.
I worked in an herbal apothecary here in Colorado for a couple of years and this also happened to be during the beginning of the pandemic. I felt I was constantly educating people on Osha as so many were coming in seeking its medicine. It became very apparent to me that many people knew of the amazing medicine of Osha but nothing of its current ecological status.
I became quite adept in the recommendations of herbal analogs to Osha, these were herbs which held similar medicine to Osha and could be used in its place.
Some of my favorite herbal analogs for Osha are:
Angelica, (Angelica Archangelica)
Pine, (Pinus spp)
Elecampane, (Inula Helenium)
Lovage, (Levisticum porteri)
Thyme, (Thymus vulgaris)
Grindelia, (Grindelia squarrosa)
Of these herbal analogs my favorites to work with have been Lovage and Pine. Pine is a favorite because it is so wildly abundant and like all of our evergreens is a year-round medicine. I also adore Lovage, it is an easy to grow herb thriving up here in my high mountain garden. I absolutely love incorporating lovage medicine into the kitchen. It makes a lovely addition to soups and broths and holds a similar aromatic to Osha though it is not as strong and a bit sweeter. You can find both Pine & Lovage in our Breathe Deep Elixir.
Though Osha is irreplaceable, there are many plants which can be used in its place, and it is so important that we adjust our wildcrafting practices to be up to date with the current ecological status of these plants. This instills the understanding that above all else:
Wildcrafting is Stewardship
Osha teaches us many things and above all else this powerful protector teaches us how to be in right relationship with the land. I am honored to be living in the mountains in which it grows and it is a great honor to teach others about this incredible plant and teacher.
Students from the Medicine of the Rockies Course in a stand of Osha