History of Cedar

The hallmark characteristic of Western Red Cedar, its natural durability, has preserved examples of native culture for more than 100 years. Western Red Cedar, a wood with roots of use that date back centuries to the Native Americans who first named it the "Tree of Life." The soft red-brown timber is valued for its resistance to decay,

First Uses of Cedar Bark and Logs

Western redcedar has an extensive history of use by the Native American people of the northwest coast of North America, from Oregon to southeast Alaska. Along B.C.'s Pacific Coast, aboriginal people have used cedar bark to make rope, clothing and baskets for thousands of years. Its wood is used to make masks, helmets, armor, boxes, utensils, tools, and many other art and utility objects. The logs are used for a variety of purposes, including canoes, totem poles, masks and long houses.

Native Americans would also remove large slabs of outer bark from living trees for roofing materials or cut a rectangular hole into a tree to test its soundness before cutting it for a canoe or totem pole. Because felling required such an extraordinary amount of work, if only planks for housing were needed, these would be split from the living tree. The bark was stripped and saved, and two cuts were made at the ends of the planking. Then wedges would be pounded in along the sides and the planks slowly split off the side of the tree. Trees which have been so harvested are still visible in some places in the rainforest, with obvious chunks taken off of their sides. Such trees usually continue to grow perfectly well, since redcedar wood is resistant to decay.

Some northwest coast tribes refer to themselves as "people of the redcedar" because of their extensive dependence on the tree for basic materials.

Preserving Heritage

Trees that have been scarred due to a First Nation's cultural activity are known as culturally modified trees. Those trees with modifications that pre-date 1846 are considered archaeological sites and are protected under the Heritage Conservation Act. Forest companies frequently take steps to help First Nations obtain cedar logs or other species from their harvest for traditional or cultural uses.