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| Field of Arnica encountered during an Afognak hunt |
My kids grew up putting Arnica ointment on bruises. I know my plants, and I always wondered if the Arnica mommy put on the wounds was the same Arnica I saw during my hikes in the alpine. In the back of my mind I always pondered, 'are we paying for something I can gather for free?' As it turns out, our varieties of Arnica do have the same properties as the stuff you buy in jar. Only the stuff in the jar lacks satisfaction, independence, can do spirit, and uses up way more fossil fuels.
When we go deer hunting in August we always see fields full of blooming Arnica. It's everywhere, and I have always suspected it is a favorite food of big bucks. I've even watched big bucks eat the flowers. I wonder if this means August deer meat has healing properties? Or does the Arnica all go to the antlers? Whatever the answer, Arnica and August deer are like 'peas and carrots'.
So for the last few years I have been meaning to learn how to make some sort of ointment with Arnica flowers. I even looked it up on the internet. And then one day at work I was needed to help with an evening event - an event at which Gayla P would be showing everyone how to infuse oil with Arnica and Yarrow. Wow! Talk about coincidental.
The event was part of the Munartet project that the Alutiiq Museum is helping to plan and coordinate.
It turns out that infusing oil with Arnica is incredibly easy. Gather and dry the flowers, put them in a jar and cover with oil, leave in the dark for 6 weeks, strain and put into some sort of dispenser. That's it!
It looks like next summer I will be coming back from hunts with both meat and flowers!
Patrick
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| There's the arnica - I bet there are some deer nearby! |
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| A harvested deer where he came to rest amongst the Arnica flowers |
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| Munartet Arnica and Yarrow infused oil exercise |
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| Putting the herbs in jars - later we added oil |
This is a great post!
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