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