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Is Your Red Cedar Patio Furniture Over 3,000 Years Old?

By Catherine Quel

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Published: 25Aug2009
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Where did your western red cedar outdoor patio furniture come from and how old could it be? When did people start using this type of wood for so many items?

Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) became a common forest species in southwest British Columbia about 6,000 years ago. The Aborigines people began using red cedar more than 3,000 years ago. Everything that the Aborigines people needed came from the red cedar tree. The red cedar tree was so important to them that they named it their "Tree of Life."

They stripped the bark from the trees in different widths to use for roofing materials. When they stripped the bark from the tree, they made cuts at the base of the tree and then peeled the bark upwards. They never stripped all of the bark from a tree because the tree would die, but the tree could live with only part of its bark missing. The fibrous inner bark of the tree was used to make rope, clothing and baskets while they used the roots to make cradles.

To make a canoe or a totem pole, it took several hundred people several days just to fell one red cedar tree. Before choosing the right tree, they would cut a rectangular hole into the tree to test for its soundness before cutting it down. The best type of Red Cedar to use for their canoes was a large diameter tree with clear grained wood. Lewis and Clark also used the red cedar trees to make five canoes while they traveled in the Northwest in June of 1805.

It is quite interesting to hear how the Aborigines people took down a large Western Red Cedar Tree. First, they would remove the bark from around the base of the tree. They would then create a wide triangular cut at the base and the area above and below this cut would be coated with a mixture of wet moss and clay. They would then pack the cut with kindling and burn it. They would alternately cut and burn until the cut was almost all the way through. They were careful about having the cut in the right place so the tree would fall in the best direction for them to transport it. Some artists still take down the cedar trees in this manner for sculpting into totem poles.

The Native Americans were also very good at making canoes from a single trunk. Sometimes their canoes would be 20 to 25 feet long and they could carry a load of about 2 tons. They also crafted much larger and stronger canoes that they called voyaging canoes. These canoes would have up to 3 masts and could hold 40 people.

There are many trees still present in the forests of British Columbia today that have had their bark stripped by the ancient Aborigines people. These trees that were scarred due to a First Nation's cultural activity are known as culturally modified trees. The trees that were culturally modified prior to 1846 are considered an archeological find and are protected under the Heritage Conservation Act. Some other interesting facts about the forests of British Columbia are that 29 million acres are protected, 10 million acres are old growth protected, and 32 million acres are specially managed. More than half of the forests in British Columbia will never be logged.

On February 18, 1988, the British Columbia Tree Council chose the Western Red Cedar as their official provincial tree stating that the tree has played a vital role in the lives of the west coast Indians. Most of the western red cedar grows in forests along the coast where the soil is much more humus. The trees that grow in the drier interior forests of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Montana are much smaller. They don't usually grow in stands by themselves, they grow among other trees.

A western red cedar was discovered in 1988 located in Mt. Maxwell Provincial Park on the east shore of Cheewhat Lake on Vancouver Island. The circumference of this tree was 62'. They have one of the longest lifespan of any North American softwood tree. Specimens of red cedar trees were found on Queen Charlotte Island which are 900 years old.

A chemical by the name of Thujaplicin is found in older, more mature red cedar trees and serves as a natural fungicide. This chemical prevents the tree from rotting. The chemical lasts for about 100 years after the tree has been taken down. That's why red cedar outdoor furniture stays beautiful and lasts for so long.

So, how old is your outdoor patio furniture and where did it come from? Did it come from the western red cedar tree? If it did, I hope the information in this article was of interest to you. If you have another type of outdoor furniture, then I hope this article was so interesting that you want to know more about the history of western red cedar.

Catherine Quel is an advocate and proponent of using wood, specifically cedar, for building and home improvement projects. Her website is updated continually with information on the use and benefits of using western red cedar products. For more information, go to: => http://www.outdoorfurnituretoday.com

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