Devil's Club Harvest | Port Protection

On smokes, we're cutting through here. Timby Porter is scouring the woods looking for devil's club, a plant with pain-killing properties. I hear noises over there, but a sound in the bush ahead has brought her hunt to an anxious halt.

"Smokey, you hear bear? Do you hear bear, Smokey? All good? I guess he doesn't hear anything. We must be okay. Smokey's not sounding an alarm, but we're going to take it easy and be very aware. Smokey, come on, we're almost there."

"Smoke, and here they are! This is a really kind of scary appearing plant. The spikes are not inviting at all. It's like the plant itself is warning you away from it. You can see the spines on these things are really intense. They can get into your skin, and it's really difficult to get them out. I'm going to use my handy dandy tool kit here. Oh, I'm also going to need my gloves."

"So, I'm now I'm digging down to try to get to the root section of this a little bit, and I'm just going to move some of this vegetation away. Devil's club is the most highly prized plant to the indigenous people of the area. It has so many medicinal and spiritual uses that it is just a very valuable resource to them. But you have to be really careful about how you harvest, about how much you harvest. You need to leave something so that the plant continues to grow, that it continues to produce the things you need."

"I have a pretty good supply of devil's club now. I'm going to take it home and sing it on a fire to get the needles off of it. I'm pretty happy with my gathering today, and I'm really looking forward to making the teas and the salves. Good boy, Smokey! I really believe it's going to help Han's back. I really want him to have some relief from it."