Nature’s Power to Heal

By Rose High Bear (Deg Hit’an Dine, Inupiaq)

Founding Director

As America began to celebrate the Fourth of July, we at Elderberry Wisdom Farm were celebrating our connection with our sacred landscapes here in the Mid-Willamette Valley and the support that our ancestors and Great Spirit provide to us. We also enjoyed the cooler weather this week as we prepare for our cohort of summer interns who are arriving Tuesday morning. 

Our team at Elderberry Wisdom Farm is excited to greet them. We continue to witness firsthand the powerful impact of the world of nature on our staff and interns. It is one the reasons why eight talented young Indigenous interns signed up and will join us this month for our Summer 2025 TEK Workforce Development Internship. They will be working here at Elderberry Wisdom Farm helping to develop our Native American Plant Nursery, learning more about habitat restoration, including urban forestry and helping to tend our Three Sisters Garden and another dozen organic raised vegetable garden beds. They are also working at partners’ work sites on Wednesdays through the end of August. 

This experience will also help them strengthen their career pathways and at the same time reconnect with the world of nature. The power of this experience is validated by recent research from the National Institute of Health indicating that spending time in nature can improve our mental, physical and cognitive health. 

We like to point out the research showing that exposure to natural environments like the local rivers, sloughs and side channels, as well as the urban forests, natural areas, parks and farms where we are working this summer can reduce stress, improve mood, enhance cognitive function and even lower the risk of certain diseases.  If you have not seen it, you can check out the article, What is the impact of nature on human health? A scoping review of the literature, by J Glob Health.

We can especially celebrate tree equity. Our staff is adding urban forestry to our work and preparing lesson plans and work plans as we anticipate activities in Salem’s urban forests this fall. We plan to offer afterschool activities to Salem’s high school youth of all backgrounds when school begins in September. Outdoor learning opportunities include planting trees and strengthening tree canopies in schoolyards and neighborhoods, plus we will highlight pollinators, including the Monarch Butterfly. For some of our community, this may be the only ecosystem they can easily immerse themselves in. 

This work gifts us with mental health benefits: Stress reduction, improved mood, reduced anxiety and depression, and the potential for enhanced creativity and mindfulness. Research discusses the importance of physical activity like walking, hiking and biking on residents’ mental health and physical health. It mentions improved cardiovascular health, enhanced immune function, reduced risk of chronic diseases, improved cognitive function and sleep quality.

We will be sharing a recording with our cohort just produced by the National Tree Equity Coaching Network, a community of practice we just joined. Their first networking session in June featured Robin Wall Kimmerer - mother, scientist, decorated professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Robin expressed, “I describe myself as a student of the plants.” She eloquently speaks about the benefits of urban forests to our well-being. She sees tree equity as reciprocity as we express gratitude for the ‘shower of gifts from the land and the shower of the gift of the trees.’

She asks a question. “The question we need to ask is ‘What does the earth ask of us?’ This is a question of reciprocity or purpose. One of our teachings, and what we call our original instructions, is always to begin with gratitude. And to recognize that gratitude is the gateway to reciprocity. We know our responsibility is to give a gift in return that the land might be grateful for us.”