Culturally modified trees - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Culturally modified trees (aka CMTs) is a term which describes the modification of trees by indigenous people as part of their tradition. Their meaning for the indigenous cultures is relatively well known, but only from the beginning of the 1980s scientists have recognized that they are also important sources for the history of certain regions. Meanwhile they are even called CMT archives. Although a wide range of results has been produced, and progress has been made as far as methodology is concerned, the CMTs are still rather unknown to the public. Many old trees wearing blue belts with the words "culturally modified tree" in Stanley Park

Stanley Park

Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....

/Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

attracted considerable interest - and questions.

Delimitation

Although limiting CMTs to indigenous people, in most cases to Indians, is not coercive, the term is used this way in western Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

and the USA. In northern Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

and Southeast Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

it is used for the same phenomenon in view of the Sami people

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

and Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

respectively. Nevertheless there are research projects occupied with basque

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

herders who left thousands of trays in western USA between 1860 and 1930.

The modifications can be arboglyphs or arbographs, that is carvings or paintings, but these are relatively rare. Much more often are trays of usage left by canoe makers, or when people were in need of fibres for making clothes, hats or blankets.

Protection, registration and analysis of CMT-Archives

In the most western Canadian province British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

these trees are protected by complex laws. Trees older than 1846 and registered as CMTs are not allowed to be logged. The first lawsuit was against a Canadian who had logged trees of this kind older than 300 years. No license was given between 1996 and 2006, but in that year it was allowed once again - against the resistance of the Haida on Queen Charlotte Islands

Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...

. Even if the loggers accept the restrictions and spare a CMT, these trees are endangered because they lose their "neighbours" and with them the protection against heavy storms. That is why the members of the Hupacasath First Nation

Hupacasath First Nation

The Hupacasath First Nation is a First Nations government based in the Alberni Valley on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. An alternate spelling of Hupacasath is Opetchesaht or Opitchesaht.-See...

on the western shore of Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

claim a protective zone around the trees of at least 20 to 30 metres.

The trees are registered, classified and, if possible, dated; the trays are identified and correlated with certain activities or rituals of the First Nations. There are numerous prescriptions for how to register and accumulate the findings. Sophisticated forms were developed to facilitate both the process and the analysis.

The reasons for this elaborate process are on the one hand the meaning for rituals and cultures of the First Nations living in Temperate rain forest

Temperate rain forest

Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive high rainfall.-Definition:For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized:-Global distribution:...

s. These peoples are very interested in the protection of their archives that consist of old and sometimes extremely high trees that reach nearly 100 m.

On the other hand, the trees are a source of utmost importance for the history of the First Nations (and not only for them), a history that is heavily dependent on oral tradition

Oral tradition

Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...

s and archeological findings for the pre-contact phase.

This causes many problems for historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s, ethnohistorians, anthropologists. The logging industry, first of all, needs clarity which trees they may log, which ones not. Clearcuts have reduced the old forests to a minimum in most regions and thus destroyed the archives. Many people do not recognize the significance of CMTs and often do not even see the trays. Finding these artefacts is also a problem in areas far away from any infrastructure, so scientists rely on hints given by the local people.

Another problem is that knowledge of these places is not for public but is owned by certain indigenous families. That is the case with many Nuu-chah-nulth on Vancouver Island. Only those people know the corresponding rituals, their devices, stories and dances. So their consent is needed.

The tiny Island of Flores is home of 71 registered culturally modified trees which are protected like archives, libraries, historic sites or memorials.

Beginnings of examination

It was not before the 1980s that scientists recognized the potential of the CMT archives. Hebda and Mathewes pointed out that they could deliver traces up to 5000 years old. After historians and the courts had recognized that the trees of Meares Island

Meares Island

Meares Island is one of the many islands surrounding the Village of Tofino, British Columbia, Canada. Its name was given in 1862 by George Henry Richards, captain of HMS Hecate, in honor of John Meares...

are crucial for culture and history of the Indian Nation living there, other indigenous groups started to register CMTs in their own reserves and in their traditional territories to get the same protection for them. Historians and Indians worked closely together.

Frequent species and their ways of usage

Gottesfeld could detect 21 species, which played a certain role as CMTs. Of utmost importance is the Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), but the yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), spruces (Picea glauca u.a.), hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), pines (Pinus contorta, Pinus ponderosa), in addition Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

, Populus trichocarpa

Populus trichocarpa

Populus trichocarpa is a deciduous broadleaf tree species native to western North America. It is used for timber, and is notable as a model organism in plant biology. Its full genome sequence was published in 2006...

and Alnus rubra are also quite frequent. The bark of hemlock and certain spruces was important for nourishment and medicine. The resin of spruces was used as a kind of glue.

But the most often traces are peeled trees - besides traces of planks, canoes, totem poles and house posts. In addition you often find test holes, because, before starting their work, the people wanted to know if the bark or the wood were alright. Sometimes they only needed dry bark or tinder to make fire.

Development and results of some research projects

In 2001 Prince examined British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

n lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta). Their bark is quite nutritious, if adequately prepared. Prince found two areas, in which the main nutrient was salmon, but in one area it was abundant all year through, in the other there occurred heavy lacks of salmon irregularly (White Eye Lake). He found out that in the less reliable area there were years of heavy concentration of peelings, especially in the years 1810, 1880, 1910, and 1925. None of these areas was "harvested" twice. The bark was obviously a kind of emergency reserve, as a surrogate for the salmon. In the more reliable area he could not find any concentration of this kind. In addition, this tribe needed a much smaller territory than the one with the "times of hunger".

CMTs have become important for the history of Scandinavia, too. The Sami people

Sami people

, who also ate certain kinds of bark, were displaced northwards in the 19th century by the Swedish population, who did not eat bark. Consequently the traces of bark peelers are interrupted from one year to the next, so that historians can exactly tell, when the last Sami left the region under examination. The oldest finding ever registered is 2800 years old. Meanwhile the methods are so much refined that even fossile trees have become an important source for human history. The oldest living CMT was found in British Columbia. It dates back to the 12th century. 2000).

The role of cedars, spruces etc. are taken over by much different species in Australia. Here the red (river) gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and the grey box (Eucalyptus moluccana

Eucalyptus moluccana

Eucalyptus moluccana, commonly known as the grey box or gum-topped box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall tree with rough, persistent bark on the lower trunk, shedding above to leave a smooth whitish or light grey, sometimes shiny surface; hence the original name Eucalyptus hemiphloia, from...

) are of most importance. There are certain similarities as far as the usage is concerned. Rhoads published in 1992 that within the territory of Southwest Victoria (about 10,000 km²) 228 CMTs were found. In most cases they were found in the vicinity of ancient camps. The other way round: Search is much more promising around these trees, if you are looking for ancient camps.

The most surprising fact was a consequence of research within the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Bob Marshall Wilderness

The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a wilderness area in Flathead National Forest of western Montana in the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall , an early forester, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. The Bob Marshall Wilderness extends for 60 miles along the...

in north western -Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

. This is a wilderness of about 3,000 km² (in addition another 3000 of neighbouring wildernesses) that was never ever used by non-aboriginal people. There are no houses, no streets, no fields or pastures. Nevertheless the CMTs showed that between at least 1665 and 1938 indigenous people peeled the bark and conducted other usages.

Perspectives

No historical source - leave alone the cultural meaning - is so heavily endangered, and on the other hand as precise, as the CMT archives. They open new research fields, but do need very exact methodology. A crucial precondition for research is the preservation of old growth forests. So, in addition to ecological, cultural and other scientific reasons to keep them alive, they are historic sites of highest rank.

Countries, whose forests are at least partially untouched, have in most cases not yet realized what they have in front of their doors. E.g. for the history of northern Asia, they can frequently be even the only witnesses of the past. Once destroyed, the history is forgotten forever.

In Canada, where research was for obvious reasons concentrated in the western provinces with its old forests, Ontario has documented CMTs in 2001. In the Nagagamisis Provincial Park most trees found were between 80 and 110 years old, some probably more than 400.

On Hanson Island alone, David Garrick documented 1.800 CMTs. The Kwakwaka'wakw

Kwakwaka'wakw

The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...

of the region could stop the destruction of their archive. Garrick also found trees in the Great Bear Rainforest

Great Bear Rainforest

The Great Bear Rainforest is the name coined by environmental groups in the mid-1990s to refer to a region of temperate rain forest in Canada, on the British Columbia Coast between Vancouver Island and Southeast Alaska...

on the territory of the Gitga'at First Nation. They are supposed to be logged for a street in the area of Langford

Langford

-Canada:* Langford, British Columbia - Canadian municipality on Vancouver Island* Langford, Manitoba-England:* Langford, Bedfordshire* Langford, Essex* Langford, Norfolk* Langford, Nottinghamshire* Langford, Oxfordshire* Langford Budville, Somerset...

. In February 2008 the Times Colonist reported of protesters being removed.

In 1985 already a protection program was started in Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in southern Washington, USA. With an area of 1.37 million acres , it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia River. It includes the 110,000 acre Mount St....

. At 338 spots more than 6.000 CMTs were identified, of which 3.000 are protected now.

17 CMTs were found in the Blue Mountain area within Pike National Forest

Pike National Forest

The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, USA, west of Colorado Springs and including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte...

, at least 26 in Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is a United States National Monument in Teller County, Colorado, that is noted for its fossils. It is located in a mountain valley just west of Pikes Peak and holds spectacular remnants of prehistoric life...

. Even trees more than 200 years old were registered in Manitou Experimental Forest north of Woodland Park

Woodland Park

Woodland Park can refer to:United Kingdom* Woodlands Family Theme Park DevonUnited States* Woodland Park, Colorado* Woodland Park, Idaho* Woodland Park, Michigan* Woodland Park, New Jersey* Woodland Park ** Woodland Park Zoo...

.
Most of these trees within the territory of the Ute

Ute Tribe

The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...

are ponderosa pines. Researchers know that they haven't got that much time. The trees have a life-expectancy of 300 to 600 years. Many could be dated, being peeled between 1816 and 1848. In February 2008 the Colorado Historical Society has decided to invest a part of its 7 million dollar budget into a CMT project in Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...

reading

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M. Antrop, Why landscapes of the past are important for the future. Landscape and urban planning 70 (2005) 21-34

Arcas Associates, Native Tree Use on Meares Island, B.C., 4 volumes, Victoria 1986

I. Bergman/L. Östlund/O. Zackrisson, The use of plants as regular food in ancient subarctic economies. A case study based on Sami use of Scots pine innerbark. Arctic anthropology 41 (2004) 1-13

M. D. Blackstock, Faces in the forest: First Nations art created on living trees. Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press 2001, 224 pp.

G. Carver, An Examination of Indigenous Australian Culturally Modified Trees in South Australia. Doctoral thesis. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Australia 2001

Juliet Craig: "Nature was the provider". Traditional ecological knowledge and inventory of culturally significant plants and habitats in the Atleo River Watershed, Ahousaht Territory, Clayoquot Sound, PHD. Victoria 1998

V. V. Eetvelde//M. Antrop, Analyzing structural and functional changes of traditional landscapes: two examples from Southern France. Landscape and urban planning 67 (2004) 79-95

T. S. Ericsson, Culture within nature: Key areas for interpreting forest history in boreal Sweden (Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae), 2001

David Garrick, Shaped Cedars and Cedar Shaping: A Guidebook to Identifying, Documenting, Appreciating and Learning from Culturally Modified Trees. Special Limited Edition, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 1998.

L. M. J. Gottesfeld, The importance of bark products in the aboriginal economies of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Economic botany 46 (1992) 148-157

R. J. Hebda/R. W. Mathewes, Holocene history of Cedar and Native Indian cultures of the North American Pacific coast. Science 225 (1984) 711-713

L. M. Johnson, "A place that’s good". Gitksan landscape perception and ethnoecology. Human ecology 28 (2000) 301-325

J. Mallea-Olaetxe, Speaking through the aspens: Basque tree carvings in California and Nevada. University of Nevada Press, Reno / Las Vegas 2000, 237 pp.

Amanda L. Marshall, Culturally modified trees of the Nechako plateau: cambium utilization amongst traditional carrier (Dahkel) peoples. Master’s thesis. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University 2002

C. Mobley, The Ship Island site: Tree-ring dating the last battle between the Stikine Tlingit and the Tsimshian. A report to the Alaska Humanities Forum, Grant 1999, 36-96

C.M. Mobley and M. Eldridge, Culturally Modified Trees in the Pacific Northwest. Arctic Anthropology. 29 (1992) 91-110.

J. Oliver, Beyond the Water's Edge: Towards a Social Archaeology of Landscape on the Northwest Coast. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 31 (2007) 1-27.

B. Pegg, Dendrochronology, CMTs, and Nuu-chah-nulth History on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 24 (2000) 77-88.

P. Prince, Dating and Interpreting Pine Cambium collection Scars from Two Parts of the Nechako River Drainage, British Columbia. Journal of Archaeological Science 28 (2001) 253-263.

Sheila D. Ready, Peeled Trees on the Payette National Forest, Inner Bark Utilization as a Food Resource by Native Americans, USDA Payette National Forest, Supervisor’s Office, McCall, Idaho 1993

J. W. Rhoads, Significant sites and non-site archaeology: a case-study from south- east Australia. World archaeology 24 (1992) 199-217

Arnoud H. Stryd/Vicki Feddema, Sacred Cedar. The Cultural and Archaeological Significance of Culturally Modified Trees, digital (PDF, 1,3 MB): Stryd/Feddema

A.H. Stryd and M. Eldridge, CMT Archaeology in British Columbia: The Mears Island Studies. BC Studies 99 (1993) 184-234.

T. W. Swetnam, Peeled ponderosa pine trees: A record of inner bark utilization by Native Americans. Journal of ethnobiology 4 (1984) 177-190

External links

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