The Story of Cedar

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The following information was compiled by Nikita Johnston and Betty Wilson in 2019. 

Cedar is a widely recognizable symbol of the Northwest Coast. For thousands of years, this versatile wood has played a vital role in the lives and livelihoods of the coastal First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. Not only is cedar a key natural resource in the production of material goods, the tree also plays an integral role in the traditional and spiritual beliefs, and ceremonial life of coastal First Nations.

​”Coast Salish peoples have a creation story that explains the origins of cedar. According to the story, there once lived a good man who always gave away his belongings and food to others. The Creator recognized the man’s kindness, and declared that once the man dies, a Red Cedar tree will grow where he is buried, and the tree will continue to help the people.” 

Told by Bertha Peters to Wally Henry Reproduced by Hilary Stewart Cedar (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre: 1984)

Sacred Cedar

Red Cedar, along with sweetgrass, sage and tobacco, are some of the sacred plants used by First Nations and Métis Peoples. As with sweetgrass, cedar is burned during prayers so the smoke will carry the prayers to the Creator. Cedar is also burned to drive out negative energies and usher in positive energies, and cedar boughs are waved to purify homes. Medicinally, yellow cedar bark is known to contain an anti-inflammatory agent so was used as a wound dressing. Cedar was also used in cleansing baths which involve plunging into cold water and using bundles of cedar and other medicinal plants to scrub the skin clean.

Biology

Two native species of cedar trees grow in the temperate rainforests of coastal British Columbia: Yellow Cedar and Western Red Cedar. Yellow Cedar typically grows 20 to 40 metres tall, and it is distinguished by its smaller size and bushier growth. Yellow Cedar is most common at high elevations in damp coastal forests, and is rarely found in inland regions. Red Cedar can grow up to 70 metres tall and can live up to 1,000 years. It is common on the coast from low to mid elevations on moist slopes, and in the valleys of the Interior.

Red Cedar is lightweight and rot-resistant and is the most versatile and widely-used plant among coastal First Nations. Yellow Cedar bark is softer and more pliable and was frequently used to make clothing and other fibrous materials, while Red Cedar is more commonly used in architecture and transportation, such as house poles and canoes. Everything that is produced from its wood will reliably resist rain and salt water.

Harvesting

Almost every part of the cedar tree was used, including the roots, the bark, the wood, and the withes. Traditionally, men were responsible for cutting down a tree, while the harvesting of cedar bark was typically performed by women. The falling of a cedar tree was a time-consuming and labour intensive process that involved chiselling and heating the tree with red-hot stones to weaken the wood. They would make use of various woodworking tools, which historically included stone adzes and bone drills. 

Bark is only gathered at certain times of the year. A portion of the bark is carefully stripped from select cedar trees, leaving the healthy tree intact to continue thriving. Other cedar trees were selected solely for their roots. The time of year for bark stripping varied along the Coast, but was typically harvested in late spring, as sap flow increases with the increase in temperature, and the bark is more easily removed when the sap is flowing.​ Once a tree was picked, the side of the tree with the fewest branches was selected to give the puller the longest strips possible in one pull. Initial cuts were made just above the flare at the base of the. The bark above the cut was then pried away from the tree. Once enough bark was freed from the tree so that it could be pulled without tools, the bark stripper grasped the bark and slowly walked backwards from the tree, pulling the strip up the tree in the process.

Roots are taken from mature Cedar trees, first growth being preferred. The best time to dig was in June when the root covering is easier to remove. As with bark, only a few pieces are taken, so that the tree is not harmed. The roots are dug using a digging stick or shovel. Ideal roots are those that were 1-1.5 inches in thickness and 3-10 feet long. The roots are then split, quartered and the core removed, and bundled in preparation for weaving.

​“If the red cedar roots are harvested from a place that is too rocky, the roots will be too crooked to use. If the soil contains too much clay, the roots will not pull out easily. If the tree has too many branches, the roots themselves will be short and branching. The best sites are moist, sandy river sides, where the trees are tall, straight, well-spaced and not too bushy.”

Turner, N.J. 1992. “Just When the Wild Roses Bloom”: The Legacy of a Lillooet Basket Weaver.

Uses of Cedar

Coastal people used all parts of the tree. They used the wood for dugout canoes, house planks, bentwood boxes, clothing, and many tools such as arrow shafts, masks, and paddles. The inner bark or roots made rope, clothing, and baskets. The long arching branches were twisted into rope and baskets. It was also used for many medicines.

Woodworking

Carpentry was men’s work, and with blades of stone and shell, wooden wedges and stone hammers, they were capable of producing poles, beams, and planks for houses and other structures as well as other objects used in everyday life. Coastal First Nations craftsmen carved dugout canoes, which provided transportation along rapid streams and on the open sea. These water craft and the post-and-beam plank houses were built and decorated in distinctive regional styles. The long, straight grain, of cedar wood and its ability to resist water and rot made it an ideal material for both artistic and functional woodworking. 

Clothing

Women were traditionally responsible for making clothes and textiles. The inner bark of red cedar, as with other parts of the tree, was extremely versatile, and when pounded until soft was turned into mats, blankets, capes, skirts, cloaks, hats, ropes, armbands, belts and ceremonial wear. 

Basket Making

The process involved in basket making is steeped in traditions and beliefs, so although similar materials were available to all Coastal peoples, and many techniques were shared, each nation and individual basket makers developed a style that is distinctively their own. A number of women and some men in the Tla’amin Nation continue to practice the art of cedar root basketry. Traditionally baskets of all shapes, sizes, and types could be found in Tla’amin homes, and were commonly used for packing food, storing goods, as decoration, and some were made as gifts or to be sold or traded.​ Basket makers in the Tla’amin Nation traditionally used a slat-and-coil method for their baskets. In addition to cedar, spruce and cherry bark were traditionally used in the construction and design of the baskets.Roots once initially split and dried are then split and re-split  by the basket maker, with a knife or awl, until they are the appropriate thickness and width, with skilled individuals able to create strips as fine as 2mm wide and 0.5 mm thick. Water is used throughout the preparation of the roots to keep them pliable. The roots are then dried for six months to a year allowing for maximum shrinkage before the basket is made, because if the strips are not sufficiently dried, gaps can appear in the basket as it ages. Roots were bundled for storage and re-soaked before use to make them more pliable.The process from beginning to a finished basket is a long one, taking nearly a year. Each basket maker has their own unique style of weaving and design, which can be used to identify the basket maker.

Other Uses

Red cedar was also used for gathering and preparing foodstuffs such as herring eggs and salmon. The boughs would be placed in the ocean in the spring to collect herring spawn. Fresh herring was also threaded onto boughs to dry. Salmon spreaders were also made from cedar. Salmon once cut and cleaned would be stretched on cedar spreaders or drying on racks.