Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Signals
2017
The year Indigenous
Cannabis became
unstoppable
Special Features:
Medicine wheel natural healing in Grand rivers newest indigenous jamie Kunkel of smoke signals on
0Kanasaraken on cannabis and
alderville first nation health and wellness centre the onkwehonwe cannabis as medicine
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 1
We must all continue to fulfill our
responsibilities. For more information
about the Rotiskenrakhte and our
upcoming meetings, please talk with 613-921-8173
your family and clan. 416a Hwy 49, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Paradise Gardens
Hydroponics & Headshop
Six Nations
519-445-2275
2158 ChiefswoodRd.
Green
Health for
519-865-6432
@greenhealthfor6
1143 Highway 54
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 2
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 3
A word from quality control
KANENHARIYO
ROB STEVENSON
JAMIE KUNKEL
Cmon
613-921- 8173
in!
www.peacemaker420.com
364 York rd. Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 7
Editorial
WHAT ABOUT THE kids are enjoying themselves is not bad. you it's going to stop you from
If they can boil everything else back to sneezing, you're absolutely right, it
FENTANYL DANGER? one sick, twisted individual, why are stops you from sneezing. But they
Theres this big discussion about they blaming the plant, why are they neglected to tell you that it's going to
fentanyl laced pot. Well fentanyl blaming the industry? eat a hole in your stomach, or that there
doesnt grow on pot, so considering pot It really boils down to it's not the are cancerous agents in it.
is one hundred percent healthy, I dont plant's fault, it's not the industry's fault, Theyve neglected while telling you
see what the two have to do with it's not the patient's fault, and it's not that hey, it'll do this one good thing for
eachother. Like I said, I watch you eat the provider's fault. If you want to go you. They neglected to tell you the 25
an apple every night, and an apple is and actually provide community safety, bad things it will do for you. So youve
one hundred percent healthy. You dont go find those people that are doing bad accepted that, I dont know, maybe all
turn around and deem an apple things and deal with them. Go find those 25 side eects are worth not
unhealthy or bad for public safety or put those people that are doing specific having a runny nose, maybe getting
out that there's safety concerns when actions with the purpose of harming cancer twenty years down the road, is
eating apples because some sick people or the community. that worth not having a runny nose on a
individual decided to put razorblades in Tuesday afternoon in the middle of
the apple. The plant's not bad, the summer? That's a bad choice, when
apple's not bad. It doesnt take away PHARMACEUTICALS VS. there are natural medicinal ways. And
from any of the health benefits. The fact I'm not just speaking about marijuana,
is that its one sick, twisted individual NATURAL MEDICINE but period, there is a natural plant
that put that needle in the apple. I cant believe it when I hear so remedy for everything out there that
When it comes to the cannabis called traditional people say that they exists. There is no need for Bayer,
industry, it's the exact same thing. agree more with pharmaceuticals than Pfizer, any of the big pharma companies
Marijuana does not grow fentanyl. It natural plant remedies. It absolutely whatsoever. They mask disorders, make
doesnt happen. It cant accidentally b a e s m e . T h i s p e r s o n s o n l y them bearable for the human being
end up on there. That happens from justification was, oh it goes through a because that's what's profitable. None
one sick, twisted individual who does science lab and there's quality control of those companies, if you look into
that to that plant, and then tries to push and there's a process for this and that, them, oer cures for anything. They
it out into the world, just like the and I've seen the beneficial outcomes oer masks. This will alleviate, this will
predator on Halloween that's putting of these pharmaceuticals. Well yeah, help you get through it, this will make it
bad things in kids' candy. Candy's not you have seen the beneficial outcomes less of an annoyance.
bad, Halloween's not bad, the fact that because when I give you a pill and tell
whats right and wrong. If they keep it shorelines and the ocean is full is this helm. They make the money, they
a medicine and it's not abused, it's stu that animals are eating or print the money, and they determine
kept a medicine, it's okay. Let me give swallowing and they're dying from it. which politician is going to make that
an example. But you take hemp and you can make money. And your politicians are
a cup, you can make a dish, you can supposed to be protecting your rights,
make all kinds of working tools with it. not taking them away from you, so
TREAT IT LIKE A MEDICINE You can build a house with it, you can that corporations can make more and
Out west, they have something build a car with it, you can make all take more of your natural resources.
called a sweat lodge. And back in the kinds of things. And when youre done And that's what's happening in this
late sixties, there was a group of with it, it biodegrades. country, North America, they're raping
people that started a new Native everything that's in this country and
American religion. They started a everything is getting sick.
movement, using peyote. Old people DONT TRUST THE That's against the wishes or the
didnt agree with the manner the
young people were using the peyote.
CORPORATIONS betterment of the population that
they're supposed to be protecting, but
The trouble with this country is they're protecting corporate interests
What the old people said is "Our
that corporations are the ones at the instead. They should be backing up
people use peyote as a vision quest.
And they used it maybe every person that wants to
once, maybe twice in a put animals in place, that
lifetime." Theyre saying wants a garden. They
now people go in there should be backing up that
every day of the week and person, not the
use that stu. If they haven't multi-national corporations
had a vision by now, there's that are filling the children's
something wrong. And they food with dope and food
should figure that out. I colouring and pesticides.
mean, they could go on They dont want to let you
looking for a vision, but use natural medicines, they
there's something seriously want you to use the drugs
wrong with what they're that they are making.
doing. So we have to look People have to remember,
at that and make sure that corporations are not
that doesnt happen to the human beings, they're not
new opportunities that are alive. They dont eat, they
coming in front of us. dont sleep. They're an
The cannabis plant can invention for taking over
be used in areas where the world.
plastics are used, where
Styrofoam is used today,
which are filling up the
d u m p s , fi l l i n g u p t h e
Grow Closet!
closet 4 feet wide, 2 feet wide and 6.5 feet tall.
Natives, Explorers,
and Colonists
Artistic rendering of French explorer Jacques Cartier meeting with Onkwehon:we people in Hochelaga (now Montreal) in 1535.
BY ROWAN ROBINSON This text is excerpted from pages 124-129 of The Great Book of Hemp (1996).
The Vikings depended on hemp for This fiber has been identified as that of not eager to grow hemp, although the
their sails and rope, and they probably the Cannabis sativa, or wild hemp. seed is excellent food. But the European
carried hemp seed with them and Nearly two millennia after the age motherland wanted hemp, and in
planted it when they visited North of the Mound Builders, European ser vice to France Quebec colony
America about a thousand years ago. explorers seemed reassured by meeting minister Jean Talon simply confiscated
Sailors usually carried supplies of seeds up with a familiar plant upon their all the thread the colonists possessed
with them to provide the necessities of arrival in an alien new world. The and forced them to buy it back from
life in case of Florentine Giovanni da Verrazano wrote h i m w i t h h e m p . He l o a n e d t h e
shipwreck.Cannabiswas already in thoughtfully of the natives encountered necessary seed to the farmers who were
North America in prehistoric times, during a French expedition to Virginia required to reimburse Talon with fresh
possibly brought from China by in 1524: We found those folkes to be hemp seed from their harvest.
explorers, drifting shipwrecks, and birds more white than those that we found Hemp cultivation was deemed
migrating across the Bering Strait to the before, being clad with certain leaves mandatory for English colonists as well.
west coast of the continent. that hang on boughs of trees, which The Puritans grew hemp at Jamestown
Some of the earliest evidence of they sewe together with threds of wilde in keeping with their 1607 contract with
hemp in North America is associated hemp. the Virginia Company. Virginia governor
with the ancient Mound Builders of the T h e Fr e n c h e x p l o r e r Ja c q u e s Sir Thomas Dale brought with him
Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. Cartier also reported seeing wild hemp instr uctions to plant a communal
Hu n d r e d s o f c l a y p i p e s , s o m e during each of his three journeys to garden in which to experiment with
co n t a i n i n g c a n n a b i s r e s i d u e a n d Canada between 1535 and 1541. His last hemp and flax. By 1616, the Puritans
wrapped in hemp cloth, were found in report enthused that the land groweth were able to claim of their flax and that
the so-called Death Mask mound of the full of Hempe which groweth of it selfe, there was none better in England or
Hopewell Mound Builders, who lived which is as good as possibly may be Holland.
about 400B.C.Ein modern Ohio. seene, and as strong. Later, Samuel de But however vital hemp and flax
In his 1891 study,Prehistoric Textile Champlain mentioned in 1605 that the w e r e t o t h e e c o n o m y, c o l o n i s t s
Art of Eastern United States, Smithsonian natives used wild hemp to tie their preferred to grow tobacco. Tobacco
Institute ethnologist W.H. Holmes bone fishhooks. prices were almost always higher,
describes the recovery of large pieces of The first European colonists used supported by Europeans already hooked
hemp fabric at one site in Morgan wild hemp when they arrived in on nicotine, and tobacco was less
County, Tennessee: the friends of the America. There was not enough of it, l a b o r- i n t e n s i v e . Despite the
dead deposited with the body not only however, and labor was in short supply overwhelming demand for hemp, only
the fabrics worn during life but a too. Food crops, especially corn, were when the tobacco market went through
number of skeins of the fiber from the first priority, and the colonists were periodic crashes would tobacco farmers
which the fabrics were probably made. rediscover hemp, and they always
Wheelchair
Accessible
Drive through
Option
Exit 556 and were Your first
stop off of the 401
Cannacub Bear
Product of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Christopher
Mel "Waterboy" Styres DickHill 'Thunder' Hill
Lawrence Nanicoke, Eric 'pacman' VanEvery,
James Logan, Chief Arnie General, Bonnie
Martin, Charlie Green
Ruby "Redhat"
Montour
Jagwadeth Chris
Sandy
www.realpeoples.media
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 29
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 30
The Smoke Signals
Advantage
Jamie Kunkel, a Mohawk from Tyendinaga is the owner of Smoke Signals and has been in the cannabis industry for over 25 years.
By Fernando Arce
When it comes to purchasing Today, Smoke Signals is a one-stop touch with doctors willing to write a
medical marijuana, experience is king. shop for medicinal cannabis and all its cannabis prescription.
Unfortunately, ignorance usually reigns. derivatives from dry flower to extracts You can acquire your medicinal
With so many dispensaries popping to CBD pills and tinctures. Many license there, provided you have a
up around the country as the laws and products are made in house in order to doctors note or proper proof of your
attitudes towards marijuana use change, ensure quality control. Others are ailment, Kunkel says.
it can be a real trip to wade through the imported directly from medical
The idea behind referring people to
innumerable strains, products and producers in British Columbia.
p o t- f r i e n d l y d o c to r s i s a l l a b o u t
opinions available. While experienced Most of the products are also community outreach rather than
users may remember some basic enhanced with natural plant terpenes, profit-making, he clarifies.
questions to ask their local, friendly which not only add flavour to the
In fact, thats been one of Kunkels
n e i g h b o u r h o o d d i s p e n s a r y, t h e products but also enhance the eects
goals since the late 1990s and early
inexperienced many of whom are of both THC (the psychoactive
2000s, when he began selling tobacco.
first-time medicinal users, not seasoned ingredient) and CBD (the analgesic
At the time, business was going so well
stoners will undoubtedly struggle to ingredient), Kunkel adds.
make sense of it all. that he was able to employ many of his
Smoke Signals also carries their family members and even help to build
Thats where people like Jamie own bear salve mixture a combination his mothers home.
Kunkel, founder and owner of Smoke of bear grease, coconut oil, vitamin E,
More importantly, he says, he was
Signals located at 255 Hwy 49, on essential oils and cannabis. The recipe
fortunate enough to be in a position
Tyendinaga come in. for this salve has been used in Kunkels
family for over 150 years and been where he could support his community
Wi t h m o r e t h a n 2 5 y e a r s o f when the band oces and councils fell
experience in the medicinal cannabis passed down generation to generation.
short.
industry, and with a background in Not only does it already have a
For anything that I ever heard the
botany, horticulture and business, 150-year reputation of being a good
band oce tell the people that they
Kunkel, a Mohawk of the Bear Clan, has product, Kunkel says. But now that
established a reputation in his weve infused it with the cannabis couldnt have, I purposefully went out
and figured out how they could have it,
community as a go to person for plant it has even more medicinal
he says. Theyre my neighbours, theyre
medical relief. benefits.
going without, I have more than I need,
Everybody has come to me for Smoke Signals is extremely strict how can I not give back to them? Ive
help, knowing that Ive put 25 years into about being a medical cannabis facility, known them my entire life and I know
this industry, he says. They always and they will not sell any product to deep inside that if it was the shoe on
have before any of this existed, before anyone without a medical cannabis card. the other foot, theyd do the exact same
this storethey came right to my front However, the store does refer thing for me.
door-step and asked me for these things, prospective customers to BMA Though the tobacco business
knowing that I had the know-how. Hydroponics which will put people in brought him fortune as a young man it
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 31
Jamie Kunkel shows off some of the product he has for sale at Smoke Signals.
did not bring him stability or At the time, he had just opened up each other. You could be sharing how
friendship. After choosing to leave the a new vapour lounge the kind of youre going about your sickness, how
business and the money when his business that was just coming onto the youre treating it, what are the actual
mother became ill, he also lost all the scene. The store, which operated for symptoms of your sickness. There are a
fake friends and people around him who about 10 months, only sold edibles and lot of things out there that people dont
only wanted to leech o of his success. had a big screen television, games and a know, and until you can allow these
When you cut the money out, you bar-like area that did not sell alcohol but people to actually sit together and
can also get rid of all the fake and phony where people would often sit and talk. socialize, a lot of that stu is not going
friends and actually keep the true and to come out.
honest ones, he says. The real ones I believe it is a If marijuana has helped heal people
will stick around whether you got the of their medical ailments, people like
money or not. Its the mindset they are traditional right for Ku n ke l h a v e h e l p e d t o h e a l h i s
interested in. Knowing they could have community and all those wanting to
the money, it is the knowledge they are us Weve always used learn of their ignorance around this
interested in. it and we always will powerful plant.
Today, he surrounds himself with When (people) ask you a question,
these people, many of whom work It was just a place that everybody they dont want the answer that the guy
alongside of him. could sit and socialize, he says. And on the corner would give, or the stoner
Kunkel stresses that what he is that was the very first kind of a boom to at the mall, he says. They need an
doing is perfectly legal. Smoke Signals the medicinal market vapour lounges. educated answer. They need to know
sells only medicinal product and only to why its going to help them. How its
Soon, marijuana users were able to
people carrying a medicinal license get together and discuss their medicine going to help them. And whether there
and/or prescription. of choice without being hassled. For, as any side eects? There are a lot of
Kunkel says, although patients were things that people need to know.
The newer generation are
accepting of cannabis because they are already able to get medicinal licenses, Kunkel is also a firm believer in his
educated in it, he says. They know of cultural attitudes around marijuana peoples sovereign right to use and
its healing benefits. They know its not were still driven by the type of irrational benefit from the plant.
just there to get high with. Whereas for and ignorant fear-mongering that had I believe it is a traditional right for
t h e o l d e r g e n e r a t i o n , i t s b e e n kept the plant underground for decades, usIts been here since the beginning of
stereotyped. and its users relegated to cold timeWeve always used itIts no
The importance of the plants basements and empty parking lots. dierent than our Indian tobacco, our
healing powers as opposed to its You got a medicinal license but sweetgrass, our sage. Its another plant
recreational use became most evident you still gotta be made to feel like a that comes from Mother Earth, that we
about three or four years ago, he criminal, Kunkel says. So when I first as an Indigenous people have always
explains. opened the vapour lounge, it was a place used, always use now, and always will
to give everybody that had a medicinal use.
license, a place to sit and socialize with
Grand Rivers
newest Indigenous health and wellness centre
Theres a new place to go for techniques. You can see examples of ingredients that are needed for feasts
In d i g e n o u s ce n t r e d h e a l t h a n d his tattoos and design work on and ceremonies.
wellness in Six Nations of the Grand InstagramandFacebook. In overcoming the legacy of
River.Mohawk Medicineis the Because there are so few colonialism, many Indigenous people
creation of the husband and wife team traditional Indigenous tattoo artists, are re-adopting ceremonies and
of Kanenhariyo Seth LeFort and many of Kanenhariyos clients travel traditions as adults. In some cases
Karenniyo Caroline VanEvery-LeFort. in from afar. To accommodate this they may not have access to the
Their storefront operation is located need, Mohawk Medicine oers a bed necessary knowledge or resources to
at917 Sour Spring Rd (2nd Line)in and breakfa st rental suite. The carry through with what they need to
Six Nations. apartment has a private entrance and do. For example, someone may get a
At Mohawk Medicine, you can comes with a luxurious king sized bed, reading done, which tells them that
get a traditional tattoo, the products a full private bath and shower, TV and they need a certain ceremony to be
you need for a ceremonial feast, over high speed internet. The suite is put through. Dierent ceremonies
100 medicinal herbs for various available starting at $150 a night. require dierent items or ingredients
ailments, customized health and Iroquois Organicsis a line of for meals. Feast Basket provides a one
beauty products, and the personalized health and beauty products created by stop shop where you can purchase
attention of knowledgeable specialists Karenniyo that includes a facial these items (such as corn mush,
in Indigenous medicine. system, a two minute manicure, an squash, liver, pigs head, beans, or
Mohawk Medicine has come anti-inflammatory/arthritis salve, soap frozen berries) and ask questions
together as an amalgamation of and candles, lip gloss, pain ointments, about how to cook or prepare things
several different businesses and tinctures, tonics, and a variety of teas without feeling embarra ssed or
s e r v i ce s t h a t Ka n e n h a r i y o a n d for various ailments. ashamed.
Karenniyo have been providing for In addition to the pre-made In front of the store, clients will
some time. Mohawk Medicine uses an product line, Karenniyo custom see the various food growing eorts.
Onkwehon:we approach to medicine makes particular formulations to treat The farm has two greenhouses, a
and healing that addresses the issues certain problems on a case by case variety of dierent gardens, and is a
of the whole person on a mental, basis. So for example, if you have place for experimentation with
physical, spiritual, and emotional severe acne or eczema, Karenniyo will various permaculture and various
level. formulate a medicine especially for Onkwehon:we growing techniques.
The businesses that make up you. As Kanenhariyo puts it Theres a
Mohawk Medicine are Iroquois Ink, Feast Basketis the aspect of huge need for the revitalization of our
Iroquois Organics, and the Feast Mohawk Medicine that is focussed on h e a l t h a n d m e d i c i n e p r a c t i ce s .
Basket. traditional Ir o q u o i s Western medicine was pushed really
Iroquois Inkis a tattoo shop foods,permaculture gardening, and heavily on us, but its not even that
that specializes in black ink food as healing. The aim is to not only old. Our knowledge has thousands of
traditional Onkwehon:we tattoos and provide quality organic produce, but years of practice and knowledge yet
sacred geometry. Kanenhariyo uses to also stock special foods and its not in the mainstream. We plan on
both machine and traditional tattoo changing that.
For Kanenhariyo, tattoos are an and has had a lifetime of involvement medicines and foodstus which are
important form of medicine and in traditional Onkwehon:we relatively safe to use unsupervised.
healing. Traditional tattoos can be a ceremonial and medicine practices. For example: peppermint, sa ge,
marker of important life changes Kanenhariyo is a co-founder ofReal moisturizer, raspberry leaf, or items
birth, deaths, battles and each one is Peoples Mediaand the co-host of the for ceremonial feasts such as corn
unique to the person. Sometimes they Whats Going on Podcast. mush or frozen berries, etc.
help people move past negative Restricted products are herbs and
experiences and allow them to grieve, tonics that might be harmful if
and sometimes they mark the
beginnings of new journeys. Tattoos
Tattoos are improperly used or which might have
contraindications if used with other
are medicine as they help the healing medicine as they medicines. Examples include
process both emotionally and
spiritually for people. help the healing bloodroot, valerian root, sassafras,
comfrey, and cannabis. To access
Kanenhariyo and Karenniyo both process both restricted products, clients must go
have extensive formal qualifications in through a client intake with either
the non-native world Karenniyo is emotionally and Karenniyo or Kanenhariyo to ensure
completing her PhD in Indigenous
knowledge from Trent University. She
spiritually for that the product is right for them.
The goal of this consultation is to
is a trained herbalist with a diploma in people. discuss the patients illness and come
herbal medicine from the up with a health plan whether it
International College of Natural involves an herbal recommendation,
Health and Traditional Chinese As a member of the Mohawk dietary change, exercise regime, or
Medicine, and she also holds a Bear Clan, Kanenhariyo was taught more. As Karenniyo puts it, the goal
Masters degree in education from medicine teachings by his elders. In is holistic health, on a mental,
Brock University. Iroquois society, names are kept spiritual, physical, and emotional
Karenniyo has had a stellar career within clans and re-quickened after level. There is a $60 consultation fee
in field of education. But ultimately their original holders have passed on. and full client confidentiality.
she came to a place where she had The last person to hold Kanenhariyos The initial consultation cost for a
choose behind a professional Onkwehon:we name passed away in tattoo is free, but the follow up
academic life and doing something the 1930s. Interestingly, that man was appointment when art work is drawn
that was more fulfilling emotionally a herbalist and medicine man from up costs $100. The costs for the actual
and spiritually, and where she could Caughnawaga, who not only provided tattooing is $125 an hour for either
work from home and be around the medicine for Indigenous people machine or hand poke tattoos.
five children that her and across Iroquoia, but who also made
Kanenhariyo jointly raise. medicine that was used directly by the Mohawk Medicine is now open for
For his part, Kanenhariyo has English royal family.
business from 12pm to 7pm every day of the
completed a degree in Indigenous At Mohawk Medicine customers week. Stay tuned for more details about
studies at Trent University, holds a may purchase products or services. our upcoming Grand Opening.
certificate in permaculture design, a Products are either unrestricted or
diploma in adult Mohawk immersion, restricted. Unrestricted products are
Mohawk 12pm-7pm
Medicine Everyday
613-920-4771
THC and CBD Herbs
Feast supplies Tattoos
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 38
Smoke Signals Magazine fall 2017 page 39
Natural medicine that you can trust.