Sex is sacred.
This program was made by and for the Two-Spirit, queer, and trans Indigenous community with the goal of creating alternate pathways to testing and sexual health resources.
What is a Medicine Bundle?
A Medicine Bundle is personal to its carrier and contains items you have gathered and that you care for. This bundle is sacred to you. It contains items that support you in your personal journey and development. The Medicine Bundle helps you engage with your health in a holistic way – mind, body, spirit, and sex.
How and why was the Medicine Bundle Program created?
The first iteration of the Medicine Bundle Program started in 2021 as a pilot project in the province of BC. The Two-Spirit Program team conducted interviews and consultations with several Indigenous and Two-Spirit Elders, Knowledge Keepers and community members, as well as healthcare professionals (HCP), to explore the feasibility of an at-home HIV and STBBI testing project for British Columbia (BC). After a full analysis and summary of the consultations, it was clear that an Indigenous-focused and led at-home HIV testing program is not only wanted, but needed in communities throughout BC.
The second iteration expanded the Medicine Bundle Program nationally, but continued to be distributed from our Vancouver office.
What was included in our Medicine Bundle?
In the first two iterations, our Medicine Bundle contained an HIV self-test kit, Indigenous medicines (sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, lavender, Labrador tea, bear grease and Devil’s Club salve), sexual health supplies, and additional resources. The purpose of this bundle was to bring the sacredness back into sex and give community members access to a holistic approach for their sexual health needs.
Why were these Medicines chosen for our Medicine Bundle?
After consulting with the Trusted Messengers, FEAST Elders, previous bundle recipients, and our National Guidance Committee, we agreed on the inclusion of the following Medicines to connect the values of the Medicine Bundle to its contents:
- Decolonial and Indigenous approaches (sage)
- Community and Elder collaboration (sweetgrass)
- Conversation is knowledge and research (Labrador tea)
- Sex is sacred (bear grease)
- The spirit of reciprocity (tobacco)
- Empower and support your leaders (cedar)
- Greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS and meaningful engagement of people living with HIV/AIDS (lavender)
- Sustainability beyond implementation (Devil’s Club)
What did we learn from a national expansion?
Following the second iteration, we received some feedback from the community and have made changes to the Medicine Bundle Program:
Cultural specificity and capacity building: Through the national expansion of the Medicine Bundle Program, it became clear that the need was quickly exceeding our capacity and that the Medicine Bundles themselves needed to expand to be more culturally specific. Indigenous Medicines, teachings, stories, and community health needs vary widely from nation to nation. Creating one Medicine Bundle was a great start for getting resources and testing into the hands of community members, but more needed to be done to accurately reflect the diversity of each Indigenous community.
To respond to this need, we decided to expand once more through a third iteration (see below section for more information).
Recipient data collection was a barrier to access:
In the previous iterations of the Medicine Bundle Program, we requested information from recipients to support the evaluation of the program and to justify its need to our funders. This information was anonymised to protect community member confidentiality, but became a barrier to participation. Since receiving this feedback, the program has shifted to an optional feedback model. Community members will not be asked to provide any information in order to receive a Medicine Bundle. Future Medicine Bundles will include an optional survey to provide feedback, focussed on their experience of receiving the bundle and what they would like to see included in the future.
Where is the Medicine Bundle Program now?
Following high demand from the first and second iterations of the program, we are now moving forward with a third iteration of the Medicine Bundle Program. The Two-Spirit Program is currently collaborating with five community partner sites to develop their own localized version of the Medicine Bundle. So far, we have confirmed community partners sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and in the Maritimes (more details will be available soon). Community partners will consult their communities to determine their health needs and priorities, Medicine Bundle contents, and best method for delivery. Each community partner will have full agency and autonomy to determine what their own localized Medicine Bundle Program will look like.
To support community capacity-building, each community partner site will be supported through ongoing 1:1 support from our Two-Spirit Program team, access to structure and knowledge from team members that originated the program, and funding to support the creation of their own localized program (including Medicine harvesting/purchasing, hiring staff support, and resourcing of other health supplies).
Our goals for this third iteration are to continue building strong relationships with Indigenous communities, based on reciprocity and relationality; build capacity for others to continue this important and much needed resource; and to learn how other communities may approach the program. These findings will be shared back in order to create a community resource on how other communities can create their own localized Medicine Bundle program.
How can I access a Medicine Bundle?
CBRC’s Medicine Bundle ordering service is currently on indefinite hiatus. We are currently working with community partner sites to create their own Medicine Bundles, with an expected localized rollout in fall 2026. Please keep an eye out on our socials (such as Instagram or Facebook) if you are interested in following the Medicine Bundle Program, or if you would like to receive updates from our Two-Spirit Program team.
For questions please email: [email protected].
The Medicine Bundle Program is made possible by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Foundation of AIDS Research (CANFAR).