It's the first day of summer, and wild roses are finally in bloom. In this episode, I ramble about all things roses, except to discuss their actual medicine. Oops! I dry rose hips to put in my winter tea blends because of their immune-boosting abilities, not sure if that is just vitamin C or if there is more to it than that. Like many rose family plants (agrimony, potentilla/cinquefoil, raspberry and other Rubus species), rose is astringent. I guess that is hinted at a bit when discussing roses for skincare, but that also applies when using the hips, petals and even leaves in tea blends. And then there's just the emotional/spiritual medicine of seeing and smelling roses in bloom. You can see some flowers here: #oginiiwaabigwan and check out the fruit here: #oginiig

I would love to hear from you! You can use the contact form on my website or record me a voice message at the podcast homepage. 

Check out more ojibwemowin (including audio) at the Ojibwe People's Dictionary.

The intro/outro music in this episode is royalty-free music called "In the Forest" shared on Pixabay by username Lesfm.

This delicate red and yellow flower is currently dangling above its lacy leaves along trails, roads, streams, and even my driveway - that's where I recorded this episode, and you'll hear the gravel crunch as I dodge mosquitoes and pause for loud cars, but we also get some sweet little creature noise, so it's all good. Misadijiibik means stomach medicine-root in ojibwemowin, but the root, leaves and seeds of this plant have been used by other tribal nations for other body systems, too. I'm more interested in just enjoying the beautiful flowers, mostly to look at, and even for the occasional nostaligic nibble. See them yourself by checking out #misadijiibik on Instagram, if they don't turn up in your wanderings.

I would love to hear from you! You can record me a voice message at anchor.fm/marisa-lee

Check out more ojibwemowin (including audio) at the Ojibwe People's Dictionary.

The intro/outro music in this episode is royalty-free music called "In the Forest" shared on Pixabay by username Lesfm.

Whether you call this fruit serviceberry, saskatoon, juneberry or gozigwaakomin, it is delicious - and the flowers blooming now are a promise of the sweetness to come. Depending on where you live, gozigwaakominagaawanzh is probably done blooming . . . but you can still enjoy photos of it here: #gozigwaakominagaawanzh and check out the fruit here #gozigwaakomin

It might be hard to catch their names, when I mention my teachers, so I will include their names in the notes: Misko-anang & Amikogaabawiban (who went by his 'nickname' he said, Amik).

This episode was recorded outside, because it was too beautiful out not to - and this was so much nicer than recording in my cold car during the winter. I may continue recording outside, unless traffic past my house gets too busy during tourist season. And uh yeah, about that weekly podcast every Tuesday? I guess I'm not sure what my posting schedule will be. I tend to do everything in short bursts of energy with long breaks in between. I'll find a rhythm and try to be consistent, while also not committing to something I can't keep up with.

I would love to hear from you! You can use the contact form on my website or record me a voice message at anchor.fm/marisa-lee

Check out more ojibwemowin (including audio) at the Ojibwe People's Dictionary.

The intro/outro music in this episode is royalty-free music called "In the Forest" shared on Pixabay by username Lesfm.