"This all started with a gifted box of devil's club, but I don't know where it will end."

Arianna (Ari) Johnny-Wadsworth

Born in Duncan on Vancouver Island, Wadsworth is Quw'utsun' (Cowichan) and adopted into the Squamish Nation. She has lived her whole life on unceded Coast Salish territories, she told National Observer over the phone.

"A lot of my knowledge has just been in my DNA and I activated it," Wadsworth said. Photo courtesy of Wadsworth

A few years ago, Wadsworth had been working for an apothecary business. The job wasn't working out. On her 26th birthday, she decided it was time to quit. That same day, a friend gifted her a box of devil's club (a shrub native to the pacific northwest and a traditional medicine for many Indigenous peoples). When they gave it to her, they said "this is what you're going to do."

That day and that gift, changed everything, Wadsworth said.

At that moment, she didn't know exactly what would happen, but she had a prayer, she said. She took the paycheck from her last job and bought supplies for one product. She made enough from the first product to turn it into two, and now today, two years later, she offers more than 15 products in a business that has become fully financially self-sustaining. From that day on, she knew her work in this world involved working with traditional medicines.

"The initial integrity of carrying that prayer has followed and sustained me," she said.

Wadsworth now makes clay masks, salves, scented perfumes, lotions, lip balms, soy wax candles and more. Everything she makes is made from or incorporates traditional plant medicines, she explained. She combines essential oils with medicines like tobacco, sweetgrass and cedar to make her salves and skin-care products, and when she harvests and produces, she makes sure she has a good mind and heart.

"We pray before we touch the medicines," Wadsworth said, speaking about herself and her boyfriend Brandon Lee. "We go out to Mt. Baker and bathe in the hot springs, then harvest. It starts in the mountains. Before we start to prepare, we pray before and ask permission."

Many of Quw'utsun Made's non-Indigenous customers ask how and why the products are "so awesome," Wadsworth said, not always understanding that it's all about the spiritual energy and good vibes put into the medicines. Photos courtesy of Wadsworth

Outside of harvesting, making and selling her products, Wadsworth gives workshops and talks, sharing the knowledge she carries. She has taught people of all ages, from four to 84, she said. She has presented to doctors, counsellors, and academics, mostly on how to make devil's club salve or oils. Though she didn't plan on being a teacher, she said, she accepts the responsibility.

In her talks, Wadsworth tries to address the problem of over-harvesting medicines and mismanaging resources. She said both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can exploit the land and that "we all need to work towards restoring balance."

"It's sad to see people take more than we need for things that won't even go to use," she said, speaking about the over-harvesting of medicines like rosewood, cedar and devil's club. "I’m just trying to teach people to restore the elemental balance and to walk in a good way."

When giving workshops at the Northwest Indian College, Wadsworth was asked to make salve out of devil's club, to help elders with arthritis. From there, friends requested balms for dancers, weavers, beaders and carvers to help with aches and pain.

Devil's club salve. Photo courtesy of Wadsworth.

She also offers four perfumes, named in honour of the work and lives of Indigenous peoples. The perfumes are: The Carver, The Weaver, The Beader and Tzinquaw (Thunderbird). The Tzinquaw fragrance is inspired by a Quw'utsun' story that is represented and remembered by many dancers, she said.

"It's is a very powerful dancer. I think of my brothers and friends who are Tzinquaw dancers and that’s how I wanted to represent Quw'utsun'," she said. "They carry such good medicine in their dance."

The Tzinquaew fragrance can be used by men, women and all in between. It's gender neutral, made of tobacco, cedar, fur and bay leaf, and offers a clean fresh scent. Photo courtesy of Wadsworth

Wadsworth studied at a wellness school in Vancouver, where she got a degree in wellness counselling and life coaching. But no one handed her a diploma in traditional medicines, she said.

"It was in my bloodlines for the last thousands of years," she said. "That day I was gifted devil’s club, it hit me that I had these credentials in my bloodlines, this ancestral knowledge in my DNA. I created these recipes and had no idea what I was doing. Things just organically came out and I’d write them down on paper."

She has also learned a thing or two about the fast-paced grind of the business world. Reflecting on her life, she said she took some of her first lessons in business from her grandmother, who taught her how to knit when she was five.

"My grandma would sell what we knit. She'd give us $20 for it and wholesale it for $120," Wadsworth said, laughing. Her logo, three waves, is based off of her grandmother's knitting. She chose the design because it's universal, represents water and carrying things forward. Wadsworth's partner, Lee, made the design into a logo.

Though on paper, Lee, who Wadsworth calls her "other half," is not technically her business partner, he influences everything she does, she said. While Wadsworth makes salve, Lee makes candles and while she sleeps to prepare for a market the next day, he'll stay up trimming wick.

"We try to be in a good heart good mind, when we work, always sober," Wadsworth said, seen standing beside Lee, who's Korean and American, but shares many of the same teachings, she said. Photo courtesy of Wadsworth

Wadsworth has almost 4,000 followers on Instagram and says she spends a lot of time on social media, it's a big part of her personal and professional life.

She is a part of a large community of empowered Indigenous women, artists and entrepreneurs, sharing and promoting their work, and seeking inspiration from others, she said. Though she sees a lot of folks use the word "decolonize" across social media, she prefers instead to think about Indigenizing daily life. She said it feels strange to #decolonize, with an iPhone in one hand and Netflix streaming in the background.

"I think if we Indigenize our daily actions and connect with where we come from in small ways, it’ll help the whole world," she said. "I've connected with people from all over the world. It has never been like this before."