Nature Is Medicine: Why First Nations’ Health Relies on Planetary Balance

Introduction: The Inseparable Bond Between Nature and First Nations Health

For millennia, Indigenous communities around the world—and particularly First Nations peoples of Canada—have lived with a profound understanding that health is not just physical well-being, but a dynamic balance between mind, body, spirit, community, and the natural world. In First Nations cultures, nature is medicine—not metaphorically, but in the deepest, most literal sense. Their cultural, spiritual, and physical health is intimately tied to the health of the land, air, water, and all living beings.

In a world grappling with climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss, this Indigenous worldview offers a critical reminder: When nature is unwell, so are we. As modern health systems increasingly acknowledge the social and environmental determinants of health, First Nations teachings offer invaluable insights. The ways in which First Nations’ health relies on planetary balance, and why protecting ecosystems is not only an ecological concern but also a matter of health justice.

1. Traditional Knowledge Systems: Medicine Rooted in Land

First Nations people across Turtle Island (North America) have long understood the land as their first teacher and healer. Traditional Knowledge Systems (TKS) include complex, intergenerational understandings of ecology, climate, medicinal plants, and sustainable resource use. These are not static traditions but living, evolving relationships with the land.

For example:

• Cedar, sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco—known as the Four Sacred Medicines—are used in ceremonies and healing.
• Birch bark, Labrador tea, and wild mint are harvested for medicinal teas and treatments.
• Seasonal harvesting and fasting are part of spiritual and physical renewal practices.

This holistic view does not separate health from the ecosystem. The availability of these medicines depends on healthy, intact ecosystems—forests not felled, waters not polluted, and climates not destabilized. As land is degraded, so too is access to these traditional medicines and the health they provide.

2. Food as Medicine: Nutrition from the Land

First Nations diets have traditionally been rich in biodiversity and seasonal balance. Wild game, fish, berries, and plants are central to nutritional well-being. Elders speak of the land providing everything needed to survive—not just to live, but to live well.

However, the colonization of Indigenous lands, the spread of industrial agriculture, and climate change have deeply disrupted access to traditional foods. This nutritional displacement has had disastrous consequences:

• Increased rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity
• Loss of knowledge around hunting, fishing, and foraging
• Disconnection from ceremonial and communal eating practices

In this context, reclaiming food sovereignty is about more than diet—it’s about healing. Revitalizing traditional food systems not only improves physical health but also strengthens community bonds and cultural resilience.

3. Environmental Degradation and the Rise of Chronic Illness

Many First Nations communities are disproportionately affected by industrial pollution, mining, deforestation, and pipeline development. These activities not only damage ecosystems but contaminate water, soil, and air, increasing the risk of cancer, respiratory illness, and reproductive issues.

For example:

• The Athabasca tar sands have led to a spike in rare cancers among Indigenous people downstream in Fort Chipewyan.
• Mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows (Ontario) from paper mill waste has caused generations of neurological damage.
• Boil water advisories, some in place for decades, persist in dozens of Indigenous communities across Canada.

These are not just environmental issues—they are direct threats to community health and survival. The loss of clean water or wild food sources erodes not just physical health, but cultural identity, autonomy, and mental well-being.

4. Climate Change and Mental Health: The Trauma of a Changing Land

First Nations peoples are on the frontlines of climate change. Melting permafrost, shifting animal migrations, dying forests, and unpredictable weather are disrupting traditional ways of life. But the impacts go beyond practical changes—they cause emotional and spiritual harm.

This phenomenon is known as “ecological grief” or “climate anxiety.” When the land changes so dramatically that elders can no longer predict it, when youth can no longer learn traditional skills passed down for generations, it causes profound grief, identity loss, and stress.

The land is more than territory—it is memory, culture, and ancestor. When it is in distress, the people are in distress.

Moreover, many Indigenous youth face a mental health crisis exacerbated by:

• Cultural dislocation
• Loss of language
• Disrupted family systems due to residential schools and systemic racism

Protecting the environment is not just about saving the Earth—it’s about saving Indigenous lives and restoring cultural continuity.

5. Land-Based Healing: A Path to Recovery

In response to colonial trauma, intergenerational grief, and mental health crises, many Indigenous communities are turning to land-based healing programs. These initiatives reconnect individuals—especially youth—with traditional territories, knowledge keepers, and spiritual practices.

Some examples include:

• Land-based addiction recovery programs that combine clinical support with time spent hunting, trapping, or harvesting.
• Cultural camps where youth learn traditional skills, hear teachings, and participate in ceremonies.
• Wilderness therapy programs that help treat PTSD, depression, and anxiety through reconnection with the land.

These programs are not merely recreational. They are restorative health practices, grounded in the understanding that connection to land = connection to self.

And crucially, they work. Studies show land-based programs significantly improve:

• Mental health outcomes
• Self-esteem and resilience
• Cultural pride and identity formation

6. Indigenous Stewardship: Protecting Health by Protecting Land

First Nations are not just victims of ecological harm—they are leaders in conservation and environmental stewardship. Across Canada and globally, Indigenous communities are increasingly recognized as the best protectors of biodiversity.

Initiatives like:

• Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs)
• Co-managed National Parks
• Guardians Programs, where Indigenous people are paid to monitor and protect ecosystems

These efforts recognize that when Indigenous communities have control over their lands, the land thrives—and so do the people.

Research shows that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples are among the most biodiverse and least degraded in the world. They offer carbon sinks, clean water, and cultural continuity.

Thus, investing in Indigenous land stewardship is not just a moral imperative—it is a health intervention, both planetary and personal.

7. Toward Health Equity: Decolonizing Public Health

For centuries, colonial policies have sought to separate Indigenous people from their lands, languages, and healing systems. Residential schools, the Indian Act, forced relocations, and medical racism have all contributed to devastating health disparities.

To truly improve First Nations health, we must recognize that colonization is a determinant of health, and land return is a form of medicine.

This requires:

• Policy change: Recognizing land-based healing as a legitimate and fundable form of health care.
• Land back movements: Supporting Indigenous land reclamation and sovereignty.
• Two-eyed seeing: Valuing both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems in public health planning.
• Cultural safety in health care: Training providers to respect Indigenous perspectives on illness, healing, and nature.

Only through such decolonizing approaches can we begin to restore balance—both ecological and social—and honor the First Nations truth that our health is entwined with the Earth’s.

Conclusion: Healing the Land, Healing Ourselves

The First Nations understanding that nature is medicine offers a powerful, necessary perspective in a time of global environmental and health crises. Where modern society has often seen nature as a resource to exploit, First Nations see it as a relative to care for. Where Western medicine treats symptoms in isolation, Indigenous healing treats the whole being within a web of relationships—with land, with spirit, and with community.

To restore First Nations health, we must restore land, culture, and autonomy. We must listen to Indigenous voices not just in environmental debates but in the very heart of health policy. We must move from extractive models of development to regenerative ones—rooted in respect, reciprocity, and relationality.

Because in the words of many Elders: If the land is sick, the people are sick. If the land is well, the people will be well.