Xpey' Cedar Harvesting ​

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At the request of, and accompanied by, our Matriarch T'uwahwiye’, we made our way up the mountain roads of Tuam. When we arrived at our cedar forest destination, we shared an offering to the eldest of the tree family - Xpey’ western red cedar. We thanked her for holding so much- supporting and shading the two-legged and four-legged that walk around her, and supplying generations of our ancestors with shelter, clothing, transportation and more. 

 

After some searching and listening for permission to harvest, an offering is placed on her bark and at her roots to thank her and prepare her. A single strip of bark is harvested from the northern side of middle aged cedar. On site, harvesters work to remove the dead bark from the live bark before the cedar is soaked in water in preparation for the work to come and more gifts to share.