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Cedar Root Bundles
- Material
- WOOD-CEDAR;
- Description
- A) Small coiled bundle of yellow cedar root. The end of one strip has been wrapped around to fasten the bundle.
B) Large bundle of willow or cedar strips. Some pieces have frayed edges. The bundle was originally bound but has come undone. Roy Michell of Morricetown explained that willow strips we…
- Other Names
- Worked Wood
- Cedar Root Strips
- Willow Root Strips
- Cedar Strips
- Category
- UNCLASSIFIABLE OBJECTS
- Sub-Category
- ARTIFACT REMNANT
- Description
- A) Small coiled bundle of yellow cedar root. The end of one strip has been wrapped around to fasten the bundle.
B) Large bundle of willow or cedar strips. Some pieces have frayed edges. The bundle was originally bound but has come undone. Roy Michell of Morricetown explained that willow strips were used in many ways. Willow strips were strung between trees on a moose trail and when the moose legs would get tangled up, it would bring the moose down all trussed up until the hunters arrived. They were also used to hang fish up to dry and on the other end of the spectrum, they were used in basketry.
C) Cedar fragments, smaller and bigger strips. Unbound.
- History Of Use
- Chief Thomas Seymour George, Dec 21/1892 - Aug 1974; Mary Wells George, Feb 29/1900 - Oct 30/1981. Both were born in Hagwilget and married in 1915. He was the chief of the Bear tribe in the Carrier Nation. Mary was known for her leather & weaving crafts. For more information, see Historical Research file: George, Chief Thomas.
These cedar root strips are from their collection. A horizontal cut is made in the base of a cedar trunk, pry the bark up & outward, strip off a section of the bark for a good length, and there is the basis for making rope or fishing line with minimum of joins. Bark stripping was carried out in the spring when the sap was running. The scar left on the tree is called a 'cat face'. Beneath the outer bark lay the thick layer of fibrous inner bark. These layers were separated with an ulna knife. The lengths of inner bark were then dried, folded into hunks & stored. When needed, it was dampened & broken down by pounding with the bark shredder to become soft & pliable. In this form it could be made into clothing, headdress, rope, fish nets, fish lines or softly shredded bark served as bedding of diapers.
- Material
- WOOD-CEDAR;
- Units Of Measurement
- Centimeters
- Number Of Parts
- 3
- Accession No.
- 1986.2.5 a-c
- Type of Record
- Museum Artifact
Less detail