Western Redcedar – Thuja plicata
Other Names: Western Red Cedar, Pacific Redcedar, Shingle Cedar, Giant Cedar, Giant Redcedar, Canoe Cedar, Inland Redcedar, Giant Arborvitae, Western Arborvitae, Western Flat Cedar, lata'wa, p'alans (Chehalis), xatea'tcl (S'Klallam), x'pai'epl (Lummi), t'sa'p is (Quileute), t'ci'tum (Quinault), xaxapi'ats (Skagit), xelpai'its (Snohomish), q!wê'le (Skokomish).
Note: The compounding of the words in "Redcedar" and "Red-cedar" are used joined instead of separately to distinguish it from a true cedar such as "Deodar Cedar" (Cedrus deodara) which has short clustered needles instead of scale-like sprays.
Distinctive Characteristics: An evergreen conifer with a conical crown, arching branches, and buttressed trunk. It can also develop independent vertical stems, called "reiterations," which resemble secondary trunks that form multiple tops on very old trees. As tops die back new ones will sprout. Redcedars are long-living trees and are prone to becoming gnarled and hollow, with several sparsely foliated or even spiked tops (dead tops sticking up above the live part of the tree). The fibrous bark is reddish-brown to gray. Leaf sprays are scaled, flat, and pleasantly aromatic when crushed. The nooks of the deeply fissured bark can collect windborne soil and moisture, becoming seedling nurse logs from which many plants and trees can grow. They have decay-resistant organic compounds that contribute to their longevity. "Arborvitae," the common name for the genus Thuja, is Latin for "tree of life," and some native peoples referred to it as "long life maker."
Distribution: Native to the western U.S. in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California in coastal regions and separately inland in Montana and Idaho; in Canada it lives in coastal British Columbia and Alberta. Elevation: sea level to 7,513 ft. (2,290 m).
Ecosystem: Found in wet, temperate, mixed conifer rainforests, riparian zones, bogs, and mountainsides, but can also live in dry environments with Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Big Leaf Maple, and Western Hemlock.
Maximum Age: At least 1,460 years.
Maximum Height and Girth: 277 ft. (84 m) in height; 78.4 ft. (23.9 m) in circumference.
Animal Community: Cavities in old-growth provide animals such as skunks, bears, and raccoons spaces for dens, hiding, and thermal cover, while bird species such as hairy woodpeckers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, tree swallows, Vaux's swifts, and chestnut-backed chickadees nest within its branches. In the northern Rocky Mountains, the leaves are eaten in winter by elk and deer.
Traditional Uses: Historically, the Western Redcedar has been a crucial cultural resource for the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. This tree has the greatest recorded number of uses—totaling 368—of any plant used by Native Americans, including 188 fiber uses, 52 medicinal uses, six food uses, one use as a dye, and 121 other uses! Some northwest coast tribes even refer to themselves as "people of the Redcedar" because of their extensive dependence on this dominant tree species for basic materials. Legends tell of the origin of the Redcedar as a gift from the Great Spirit to provide for the people all of their needs.
Medicine: The tree has strong immune-stimulant, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. It contains oil extracts and leaf infusions contain thujaplicins, a group of chemicals that may prevent mature trees from rotting, used in applications to treat fungal infections, warts, hemorrhoids, venereal lesions, and skin blisters. A tea was made out of the bark and twigs to treat kidney and urinary tract infections, and an infusion of leaf sprays was used to relieve diarrhea, colds, and respiratory infections (Cowlitz, Makah, Bella Coola), sore throats, and tuberculosis (Clallam). A tea of the seeds and ends of limbs were used to break a fever. The buds were chewed for sore lungs or toothaches (Cowlitz). A poultice was used for skin ailments (Bella Coola, Haisla, Kwakiutl). The inner bark of a small tree was chewed or boiled and the liquid drunk to help bring about menstruation (Chehalis). It was also used also as a painkiller (Bella Coola).
Food: Although not a staple food source, the moist, inner bark was eaten fresh or dried for storage (Montana Indian, Coast Salish). The sap was used as chewing gum (Southern Kwakiutl).
Fiber: Strips of its strong, pliable bark up to 27 ft. (8 m) long were peeled off the tree. The roots, inner bark, and limbs were used to make baskets, as well as fish traps, ropes, and cordage (Bella Coola, Clallam, Quinault, Coast Salish, Suswap, Squaixin, Thompson, Wet'suwet'en, Haisla, Hesquiat, Nitinaht, Oweekeno, Quileute, Montana Indian, Kwakiutl, Kutenai, Hanaksiala, Chehalis, Hoh, Gitksan, Flathead, Okanagan-Colville). Bark was crafted into full dresses and ceremonial capes (Chehalis, Clallam, Haisla and Hanaksiala, Hesquiat, Kwakiutl, Hoh, Nitinaht, Okanagan, Coast Salish, Oweekeno). Beautiful, watertight woven hats were meticulously made from the fine, strong roots.
Tools: Redcedar wood was used to make hunting tools such as arrow and harpoon shafts, spear poles, fish clubs, cooking utensils (Haisla, Hanaksiala, Hoh, Hesquiat), drying racks for food, drills for fire starting, while wads of shredded bark were used as tinder. Bark was plated to make dishes, platters and line cooking pits (Cowlitz, Hoh). The wood was also used to make bentwood boxes (Tsimshian, Makah, Nitinaht, Oweekeno, Quileute), benches, combs, and spindles for spinning wool (Quileute). The soft bark was shredded fine to make padding for cradles (Chehalis), towels (Chehalis, Kwakiutl), mats (Bella Coola, Haisla, Kwakiutl, Coast Salish), blankets (Nitinaht), diapers (Hesquiat, Kwakiutl) and sanitary pads (Chehalis), and paintbrushes (Southern Kwakiutl). The sap was used as glue in many applications.
Art and Ceremony: Often common utilitarian objects in Pacific Northwest cultures were so lavishly decorated with designs that they could be viewed as art objects in themselves. The wood was made into drums (Okanagan-Colville, Pauite), rattles (Haisla, Quiluete, Hanaksiala), spirit whistles (Haisla, Hanaksiala), masks (Bella Coola, Nitinaht), ceremonial headbands, capes (Bella Coola), and jewelry (Shuswap). The inner bark was worn around the neck and legs by shamans (Haisla, Hanaksiala). The wood was also used to make both cradles and coffins (Haisla, Hanaksiala). In fact, there is a strong association between cedar and death. Men would chew cedar branch tips to avoid nausea when burying a corpse (Lummi). Branches were used as a broom to sweep off the walls of a house after the removal of a corpse (Lummi), and smoking Redcedar branches were waved through the house to scare away the ghost after death (Skagit, Lummi). Boys used the branches ceremonially, rubbing themselves with them before a guardian spirit quest (Lummi). The wood was made into shamanic soul catchers in ritual healing (Oweekeno). Both Redcedar and Sitka Spruce were said to cause vivid dreams for those who slept under them (Thompson). Whalers placed branches under their beds to make themselves ready for the hunt. Totem poles, those monumental sculptures that recount cultural legends, notable events, clan lineages—or were simply elaborate works of art—were primarily carved from Redcedar (Haisla, Makah, Gitxsan, Kwakiutl, Hanaksiala, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Tsimshian).
Shelter: Logs and planks were used for construction of house posts, siding, and roofs (Clallam, Haisla, Hanaksiala, Hesquiat, Hoh, Kwakiutl, Montana Indian, Okanagan-Colville).
Transportation: The grand size of the Redcedar, along with its rot resistance and soft, carve-able wood, served for its extensive use for paddles and dugout canoes, up to 100 ft. (30 m) long (Clallam, Hesquiat, Haisla, Hanaksiala, Kutenai, Kwakiutl, Makah, Montana Indian, Nitinaht, Okweekeno, Okanagan-Colville, Quileute, Coast Salish, Thompson, Tsimshian).
Modern Uses: Redcedar is an important timber wood valued for its lightweight, tight grain, durability, decay resistance, as well as insulative and aromatic properties. It is used for constructing sailboats and kayaks, as well as shingles, posts, utility poles, decking, and siding. It is also widely used for making beehives. The aromatic oil is used today for production of essential oils, perfumes, insecticides, soaps, deodorants, medicinal preparations, and shoe polishes.
Threats and Conservation: Not threatened.