Dominion Herbal College: A History of Healing

At 85 years old, Dominion ­Herbal College (DHC) is the oldest herbal school in North America. Founded in 1926 by Dr. Herbert Nowell, who taught botanical medicine to medical doctors prior to 1918, the school has played an essential role in the landscape of alternative health for close to a century.

Ella Birzneck, an apprentice of Dr. Nowell, had an interest in herbs since her childhood in Latvia, where she worked alongside her grandmother―a midwife and herbalist―until she immigrated to Canada at age 14.

It wasn't until 1962 when Birzneck received the opportunity to take over Dominion Herbal College. But she didn't want to do it by herself―so she gathered a group of like-minded friends in the health food and herbal industries and continued the tradition of herbal education.

In those days, the chartered herbalist program was the only course available, which Birzneck nurtured and expanded with additional course materials inspired by her own practice. Students from all over the world flocked to the program.

"People have always been ­interested in herbal medicine," says Judy Nelson, Birzneck's daughter and DHC's vice-president of herbal studies. "By the time I got involved with the school, they'd had over 5,000 students. And that was just from the chartered course alone. Of course, it's way more than that now."

Birzneck's passion for the ­herbal movement in Canada led to her ­being a founding member of the Canadian Herbalist Association of BC and the Canadian Health Food Association―organizations that still thrive today. And some students who attended DHC went on to establish their own schools or programs in the industry.

Nelson, who began working at the school in the late 1970s, has fond memories of the weeklong and 10-day seminars her mother held for students at her farm in Chillwack.
"People would bring tents and they'd have a good time," Nelson says. "She [Birzneck] fed them and taught them how to make healthy food."

Growing demand for more training propelled the school to add a more advanced clinical herbal therapy program in 1989, which was the first of its kind in Canada.

After all these years, Nelson says the school's commitment to herbal education hasn't waned. "We still have, I think, one of the best programs in North America," she says. "We've always had high standards. It's not an easy program. We've actually been accused of being too scientific."

And interest in herbal medicine is not only as strong as ever amongst those in the know about herbs, but it has also permeated into popular culture. In a ­December 2011 Ipsos-Reid poll, 24 percent of adult Canadians used an herbal or homeopathic remedy in the past 12 months and even more of them (37 percent) are likely to consider buying them in the future.

"It's a lot different now from the way it used to be," Nelson says. "You can't watch a TV self-help show or pick up a magazine that doesn't have some article about what herbs to take. Because it's helping people. You can go out into your garden or backyard and there's medicine out there. You just need to know how to identify it."

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