Origins

Mishe Mokwa means Mama Bear. Around here (motherland of MMM), legend has it that a mama black bear and her two cubs swam across The Big Lake, away from a great fire on their shores, toward safety, here on ours. Try as they might, those cubs did not make it. Their sweet mama came to rest her weary heart and keep watch over them for all time. In constant vigil, the sands of time grew around her and formed the magnificent sand dune shoreline. The Great Spirit, Wonder & Mystery was moved by her tender devotion, and so with mighty winds, glacial force and heat from the core, caused the earth below her to plunge and heave; the way a mama does when she is keening with her grief. As the dunescape shifted, arising from the deep water where her cubs met their fate, two wild islands emerged, known as the manitous.

 

Mishe Mokwa Medicinals is mama bear medicine, some of which is foraged from the wild meadows & woodlands near The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and some gathered from other shores by other mothers.  Each finished product is carefully crafted in small batches with great love and intention for you, your kin, and your cub(s).

Mishe Mokwa Medicinals has gestated more than 20 years from quiet curiosity to learning to speak the love language of our green allies. Through observation, cultivation and experimentation & guided by formal study with generous, wise & benevolent teachers, a flower blossomed with reverence for the medicine, the land & the mama bears who seek nature’s wisdom for the care of their families.  Using the folk method for remedies is an intentionally traditional  & simple way of “making medicine” from the sources that surround us, like roots, bark, leaves & flowers. Trusting in the wisdom of the earth to heal the body is as ancient and intuitive as the legend of Mishe Mokwa.

(photo credit J. Stoltz)

***FDA regulations strictly prohibit the use of therapeutic or medical claims in conjunction with the sale of any product not approved by the FDA. These products are not approved by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. As always, if you are pregnant/ breastfeeding, if you are under medical supervision/ taking pharmaceutical treatments of any kind, or if you are using any Mishe Mokwa Medicinal products for children, please, always check first with your trusted healthcare provider for their safety & efficacy before using any oral or topical folk remedies.