Crocus hunt is on across the Prairies
原始发布日期： 2016-04-23 发布者：中和字变大 字变小
More than the weather or the calendar, appearance of distinct flower is a sign of springCrocus hunting in Alberta 3:23 
Erin Collins Senior reporter Erin Collins is an award-winning senior reporter with CBC National News based in Calgary. On the Tsuu T'ina First Nation just outside of Calgary, it isn't the warm weather or the calendar that lets people know when spring has sprung. Instead it's a short hike through long grasses and a search for the first crocus of the year that has marked the end of winter for thousands of years. Tsuu T'ina band member Hal Eagletail takes that walk every year and says the flower provides more than just a sign of the changing seasons. "The crocus is the first plant of spring and it comes up first and tells all of the other plants go ahead start growing it is time for a new life cycle," he says. Take a 360-degree tour of the field where Hal Eagletail hunts for crocuses. Just click and drag on the video to navigate around the field. On mobile? Watch the video here. Eagletail says the crocus is just one of the many plants that have been traditionally used by First Nations people for medicine, a practice that he says has spread into western medicine as well. "The crocus is one of the blessing flowers of our traditional medicines, 65 per cent of what we have today in our pharmacies and receive from our western medicine was derived from a native herbology." The crocus is primarily used by people of the Tsuu T'ina First Nation for a boost of energy, not unlike the caffeine in a cup of coffee. But Eagletail says the crocus is also thought to provide a boost to the spirit, signifying new growth and change, something many Canadians can use after enduring another long cold winter. 
The crocus is primarily used by people of the Tsuu T'ina First Nation for a boost of energy, not unlike the caffeine in a cup of coffee (Erin Collins/CBC) |