Shaker Swamp: Four Seasons in the Medicinal Wetlands of New Lebanon, New York
In Shaker Swamp filmmaker Ted Timreck explores the medicinal wetland at the base of Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Swamp is a remarkably preserved ecosystem where at least 74 medicinal plants known to the Indians, Shakers, and Tildens have been identified and still survive. It was first used as a source for harvesting medicinal plants by Native Peoples. Then, in the early 19th century, in a rare, documented instance of cross-cultural cooperation with the early settlers, the Indians taught the Mount Lebanon Shakers about the medicines growing in the swamp. From the middle of the 19th century, the Tilden family who learned the medicinal formulas from the Shakers, built the first pharmaceutical factory in America at the edge of the Shaker Swamp, and sold their remedies worldwide.
The story of the Shaker Swamp—and the broader lost history of natural medicines in America—is important to save for future generations, when it can be better understood in the wake of the contemporary upsurge of interest in evolving, natural remedies.
54 minutes