Rooted in Tradition and Time-Honoured Practice
The Bear Essential Oils Story
Welcome! Danowh’ yeh! (Come in, everyone!) Honist'iy' witsawh dïi (I am happy you all came!)
Bear Essential Oils is an Indigenous wellness brand that honors cultural knowledge, community spirit and self care. We prides ourselves on offering 100% pure, organic, ethically sourced and wildcrafted essential oils.
Alissa Assu
Hadih Dini ze’ ts’ake, ski ze. As a Lakesamshu clan member, I would like to welcome you to Bear Essential Oils. My name is Alissa Assu and I belong to the Laksamshu (Fireweed and Owl) Clan from the Witsuwit’en (interchangeably with Wet'suwet'en) First Nation People; the people of the Wa Dzun Kwuh (Bulkley River). Our traditional ecological knowledge is deeply rooted in respect and expressed in stories and rituals. Witsuwit’en c’idede, or teaching stories, focus on respectful relationships with animals and the spirit world and the disasters that can occur when we become careless with those relationships.
Alissa's journey with traditional medicine re-begins with Bear Essential Oils. It’s a way of planting the seeds to begin a journey with my family and larger Indigenous community. As a skak (baby/child), I was raised in our feast hall with Skokumhalte, (Emma Derrick) my grandmother. Together, we spent summers harvesting niwis (soapberries) on our yin tah (land) and attended summer cultural camps with respected Elder, Mabel Forsyth. The most powerful reconnection to culture has been becoming a mother and wanting to raise my son, nieces and nephews in Indigenous love rather than our colonial pain. I aspire to encourage and provide opportunities for Indigenous peoples to reconnect with language, culture and traditional medicines.
Cody Assu
My name is Cody Assu, I belong to the Ligwiłda’xw people (We Wai Kai) and The Haida nation. I was raised on my father’s traditional territory of Quinsam (We Wai Kai) where I still reside today. During my childhood, I would visit my mother’s traditional homelands in Haida Gwaii to spend time with my Nanaay (Pauline Jones) and several aunties, uncles and cousins. I am fortunate to have family in Haida Gwaii that continue to speak our traditional language and practice our culture to this day. Our collective family looks to continue to share those experiences with our son, nieces and nephews.
My relationship with my culture is one rooted in being on the ocean, traveling across other Indigeous peoples homelands and connecting with community members across the British Columbia coast. I am a third generation skipper of the fishing vessel named the Haida Girl that was formerly operated by my late grandfather Sidney Crosby and father Ted Assu.
Today I continue to play and work with my wife Alissa and our son Ember C’ikwah on the traditional territory of the Ligwiłda’xw people; the We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum, and Kwiakah First Nations, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.
Our Sustainability Pledge
Learn more about our pledgeCollaborating with Indigenous Artists
Bear Essential Oils worked with renonwed Indigenous Artist Morgan Asoyuf to create the symbol of bear. She is a Ts’mysen artist from Prince Rupert, British Columbia. She is an Eagle Clan from the Lax Kw’alaams community. A multidisciplinary artist, Asooyuf works primarily in goldsmithing, jewelry, gem-setting, and engraving.