Ashton Monture, Six Nations community member and traditional native herbalist, says he's seen an increase in community interest in his natural traditional medicine since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monture began practicing herbal medicine at a young age. Through travelling to different reserves to gain knowledge from elders and spending time in the outdoor environment, he says he learned about the medicinal effects that some plants and herbs can provide.

He says it was around 2015 when he finally started offering his services and selling his products: of those he says 75 to 80 per cent are made from materials he's gathered. His products range from treating day to day ailments like cold and flu symptoms to treating anxiety and depression. Montour stressed that he hopes to educate people on the traditional medicines that he provides.

"I think it's a very integral part of our way of life, especially, I find now, with a lot more people wanting to reconnect to their identity. I think it's very important to us," he said.

"The traditional medicines have been around for such a long time," he added. "It's very important to me and it's a big part for me and when I wanted to reconnect with the land."

Monture says that he saw an increased interest in his products since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

"It's really shocked people and more people are wanting to turn to all natural, coming back to our medicine."

He says since 2020, he's gone from selling 100 products during the week to almost 500 some weeks. He follows a traditional Indigenous outlook, he adds, in that the natural plants and herbs he uses were put here for medicinal purposes.

"Those medicines, they're there to provide for us. That was something they were giving to in our teachings by the creator," he said.

"As long as there's been medicine plants, our people have been using them for that."

He says he uses plants like elderflower, elderberry and yarrow to to create some of his products, all plants he says that can benefit people by boosting the immune system.

He emphasized that he doesn't discredit western medicine and still believes that people should be seeing a doctor to know what's going on with their bodies but says his products can be taken for medicinal purposes to treat many illnesses and ailments.

Monture says he's currently fundraising to create a shop or learning center for his business with the hopes of building in summer 2024. You can follow his Facebook page at Ashton Monture, Herbalist for more information.

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