Antidiabetic plants of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee of northern Quebec, Canada.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has reached epidemic proportions in aboriginal communities across Canada with an age-adjusted incidence as high as 29% of the population in some nations. In collaboration with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and the CIHR team in Traditional Antidiabetic Aboriginal Medicines, surveys were conducted in two Eeyou Istchee Cree communities to identify potential antidiabetic plants used within the traditional Cree pharmacopoeia. 53 Elders were interviewed using a list of 15 symptoms in association with T2D. Altogether, one fungus species and 28 plant species from 13 families were identified by community members. Species were ranked based on their Syndromic Importance Value calculated using the frequency of citation by informants, the number of symptoms they were mentioned for and the importance of that symptom to T2D. Results concur with those obtained from past ethnobotanical studies conducted in other communities of the Eeyou Istchee nation. Although many of the same species were cited in these studied and have since been tested and shown to possess antidiabetic potential, 5 new species were identified. This study not only contributes to the construction of the general pharmacopoeia of the Eeyou Istchee Cree, but also demonstrates once again the importance of valuable quantitative tools in ethnobotany for bridging traditional and modern medicinal knowledge in the preliminary development of culturally sound therapy approaches.