| Western red cedar has been revered for | | | | native North American Indian tribes. |
| thousands of years. Its versatility made the | | | | Principally, they utilized two fundamental |
| tree essential to Native people, prompting | | | | techniques for extracting the cedar's |
| them to place it as a central part of their | | | | elixirs. The some extracts were gotten by |
| lives. The cedar tree represented the visible | | | | boiling the parts in water and straining the |
| and invisible forces of life. They recognized | | | | liquor, or parts were steeped as tea for |
| the tree fed with the help of fungi from the | | | | infusion. It was these elixirs from powdered |
| nutrients in the soil. The trees drank water | | | | leaves that were used externally to treat |
| from underground streams that once were | | | | various internal pains, including rheumatism. |
| oceans - which were clouds. They understood | | | | The leaf buds have been chewed in the |
| the leaves feed on sunlight. They recognized | | | | treatment of toothaches, while an elixir of |
| the freshness of the forest air breathed out | | | | the buds has been used as a gargle. |
| as oxygen and water-vapor. They watched | | | | |
| quietly as birds, wind and rain spread the | | | | A weak infusion has been drunk in the |
| tree's seeds; as insects and the wind | | | | treatment of painful joints caused by |
| pollinated the tree's flowers; and, creatures | | | | rheumatism or arthritis and a poultice of the |
| broke down the fallen leaves into topsoil. | | | | crushed bough tips and oil has been applied |
| The great cedar tree became the metaphor for | | | | to the back and chest in the treatment of |
| great wisdom. The cedar's giving spirit | | | | bronchitis, rheumatism and stomach pains. The |
| provided people with food, shelter and | | | | boiled concoction of the boughs has been used |
| medicine literally from the wooden cradle to | | | | as an antidandruff shampoo. A poultice of the |
| the wooden coffin. Working with tools made of | | | | inner bark has been used as a |
| stone, bone or shell, craftsman carved | | | | counter-irritant for the skin and poultice of |
| canoes, totem poles, storage boxes and | | | | the inner bark has been applied to |
| ceremonial masks from the generous wood. | | | | carbuncles. Even the bark when pounded until |
| Mats, baskets and water-repellent clothing | | | | it is as soft as cotton can be used to rub |
| were shaped and woven from the inner bark. | | | | the face and has been used to bind wounds and |
| | | | as cover for wound dressings. Shredded bark |
| Perhaps most importantly, western red cedar | | | | can be used to cauterize sores. |
| was employed medicinally by a number of | | | | |