Culture doesn't vanish—it sleeps until stirred again. This idea lies at the heart of Samantha Terry’s research on Anishinaabeg moss bags.
Terry, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Faculty of Environment is Ojibwe from Temagami First Nation and of settler descent. Working with the Can-Peat research team at the WAMPUM Lab, her research documented the reclamation process of moss bags to relearn the ecological knowledge held by Indigenous mothers that connects the Anishinaabeg to peatlands.
Moss bags are made with fabric and leather which wrap tightly around an infant’s body. Traditionally, they were made with hide and stuffed with sphagnum moss (aasaakamig), which acted as a diaper for the child. The bag was laced up at the front to ensure the infant’s safety and create a tactile experience akin to the womb. Infants were placed in the bag from birth, allowing the mother to continue carrying her child while she did her day-to-day activities.
The process of sewing a moss bag.
The value of the moss used in the bags cannot be understated. Moss can hold up to 25 times its weight in water and is known for its medicinal antiseptic properties. It is important to Anishinaabeg for infant care, but also to treat wounds and used for sanitary hygiene. Once the moss was soiled, it could be washed and dried in the sun before reuse. But, if the moss was badly soiled, it could be burned or left to decompose. Its renewable properties reduced the production of waste in communities and represented the sustainable practices used by the Anishinaabeg to ensure the regeneration of the land.
These traditional teachings of care and sustainability are deeply intertwined in family and community roles. However, colonial practices like forced assimilation, the medicalization of childbirth, and residential schools profoundly disrupted these roles both in the past and present. Work like Terry’s is an important step in continuing the process of revitalizing these ancestral teachings to restore relationships between people and land, between generations past and present.
For her senior honours thesis, Terry interviewed moss bag practitioners, conducted a literature review and collaborated with
Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre to host a Moss Bag Creation Workshop for Indigenous Peoples to engage in moss bag storytelling and connect to peatlands.
Over the course of the workshop, two visual drawing boards were completed by Kaite Laronde, graphic recorder from Temagami First Nation. The drawings represent the participants’ answers to questions about why it’s important to practice these traditions and reflect on what they learned.
“We have a lot of modern conveniences, swaddles and diapers, that are similar to the moss bag,” says Terry. “But I think moss bags are still deeply connected to the land even if we use fabric and ribbon now. It keeps those ties to cultural knowledge and practices and allows them to evolve with us.”
This sentiment resonated with participants who echoed the importance of reclaiming traditions and how empowering the act of learning was. Kelly, a workshop participant from Flying Post First Nation noted “it connects us to our ancestors. My ancestors are sewing with me. It's to have that understanding of the way we connect to our ancestors and how they relive through us.”
Terry points out that Anishinaabeg mothers harvesting and conservation practices have a lot of value for ecosystem management today. The Anishinaabeg have been stewards of peatlands within our territory for millennia, maintaining healthy peatland ecosystems and harvesting moss. Although current efforts within Canada are returning to the inclusion of Indigenous practices, peatlands will continue to experience dramatic impacts under climate change which would benefit from further integration of Indigenous teachings.
“With that maternal ecological knowledge and how we’re reclaiming it, we are looking at how it can also influence the Can-Peat project and use it for conservation and protection of peatlands.”
As to what that will look like, Terry will continue working with the WAMPUM Lab this summer. She plans to continue interviewing moss bag creators and practitioners to see how their knowledge can help create more opportunities for knowledge sharing and integration to benefit reclamation and conservation efforts.
“Samantha’s research exemplifies the type of Indigenous-led scholarship we strive to uplift: grounded in care, cultural continuity, and community benefit,” says Dr. Kelsey Leonard, Director of the WAMPUM Lab and professor in the Faculty of Environment. “Her work not only strengthens our understanding of the natal connection to land but also amplifies our broader goals at the WAMPUM Lab—to support Indigenous climate leadership, champion environmental justice, and ensure Indigenous women and families are centered in research shaping the future. This aligns closely with the Faculty of Environment’s commitment to sustainability and reconciliation, creating space for research that is transformative, community-informed, and deeply impactful.”
The Can-Peat research team at a symposium in Kananaskis, Alberta.
In the face of climate change and ecological loss, Terry’s research reminds us that restoration begins with remembering. “In reclaiming our cultures, we are awakening practices and knowledge that have been sleeping, not lost,” Terry says.
A note of thanks: At the WAMPUM Lab, our research is deeply rooted in relational accountability and guided by the advice of Elders and community research partners. Through our collaboration with the Can-Peat project, we’ve been honored to learn from Elders about the storied and sacred connections between moss, peatlands, and moss bags—a relationship that begins at birth and continues across lifetimes.
