# Culturally modified tree > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Culturally_modified_tree > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Culturally_modified_tree.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturally_modified_tree > Source revision: 1344607585 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Modification of a tree by indigenous people as part of their tradition}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} [[File:Culturally modified tree.jpg|thumb|A culturally modified tree in [Gifford Pinchot National Forest](/source/Gifford_Pinchot_National_Forest), Washington, USA]] {{Expand German|date=September 2024}} For thousands of years, forest-dwelling peoples worldwide have harvested wood, branches, bark, resin, roots, and leaves without killing the trees. As a result, many living trees around the world still show physical signs of these past activities.{{cite journal | last1=Turner | first1=Nancy J. | last2=Ari | first2=Yilmaz | last3=Berkes | first3=Fikret | last4=Davidson-Hunt | first4=Iain | last5=Ertug | first5=Z. Fusun | last6=Miller | first6=Andrew | title=Cultural Management of Living Trees: An International Perspective | journal=Journal of Ethnobiology | volume=29 | issue=2 | pages=237–270 | date=1 September 2009 | doi=10.2993/0278-0771-29.2.237 }} In western Canada and the United States, a '''culturally modified tree''' ('''CMT''') is one which has been modified by indigenous people as part of their tradition.{{cite book |title=Culturally Modified Trees of British Columbia |author=Province of British Columbia |publisher=Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations |location=Victoria, British Columbia |year=2013 |format=pdf |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/archaeology/forms-publications/culturally_modified_trees_handbook.pdf |access-date=11 January 2026 }}{{rp|1}} Culturally modified trees are of [ethnological](/source/ethnological) significance as records of human interaction with trees and [forest ecosystems](/source/forest_ecology). In British Columbia, one of the most commonly modified trees, particularly on the coast, is the [Western Red Cedar](/source/Western_Red_Cedar).{{rp|6}} The [Sami people](/source/Sami_people) of northern [Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia) and [indigenous people](/source/Indigenous_Australians) of southeast Australia modify trees. [Basque](/source/Basque_people) herders left thousands of trees in the western United States between 1860 and 1930. ==Regions== ===Australia=== The role of cedars, spruces etc. are taken over by much different species in Australia. Here the red (river) gum (''[Eucalyptus camaldulensis](/source/Eucalyptus_camaldulensis)'') and the grey box (''[Eucalyptus moluccana](/source/Eucalyptus_moluccana)'') 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 the vicinity of ancient camps.{{cn|date=September 2024}} CMT in Australia are modified for different reasons. They include carved artworks and scar they are also referred to 'scar trees' s or the binding of branches to produce a ['ring tree'.](/source/'ring_tree'.) 'Ring trees' were shaped early in their growth by inserting an object into the trunk or tying a branch to part of the tree. These were likely used to mark territorial boundaries between Nations. They are most often found along the Murray River but exist in other parts of southeastern Australia as well.{{cite web |title=Modified Trees (Scar Trees) |url=https://koorihistory.com/modified-trees-scar-trees/ |website=Koori History – Aboriginal History of South Eastern Australia |publisher=John T. Patten |date=7 March 2016 |access-date=11 January 2026 }} Trees are scared to produce containers for carrying food and water, for production of shield. Modifying trees with a series of holes and marks was used to enable people to climb trees to harvest honey, birds, eggs, possums and other animals. Another use was the production of ‘Canoe tree’. Ceremonial or place markers in the landscape include dendroglyphs—carvings made into trees after removing a section of bark. These carvings come in two main forms. Teleteglyphs were used for teaching cultural knowledge in ceremonial contexts, while taphoglyphs marked burial sites. Taphoglyphs are especially linked to the Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi (Gomeroi) Nations in western New South Wales, though teleteglyphs have also been found across parts of New South Wales and Victoria, particularly near the Murray River. Scar trees, which still appear throughout the landscape, are the result of bark removal for tools or cultural practices. They are ongoing signs of cultural knowledge and presence, though often unrecognised by non-Indigenous people. === Canada === In Canada, while research has been concentrated in the western provinces with its old forests, CMTs have been documented in northwestern Ontario.{{cite web |title=Forest Management Guide for Cultural Heritage Values |url=https://www.ontario.ca/files/2025-08/guide-culturalheritage-aoda.pdf |publisher=Government of Ontario |year=2025 |access-date=26 January 2026 |quote=These trees have been documented in northwestern Ontario}} In [Nagagamisis Provincial Park](/source/Nagagamisis_Provincial_Park) most trees found were 80{{ndash}}110 years old, some probably more than 400.{{cn|date=September 2024}} In [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), culturally modified trees are subject to protection under the [Heritage Conservation Act](/source/Heritage_Conservation_Act). Trees dating before 1846 and registered as CMTs are not allowed to be logged. The first lawsuit concerning CMTs was against a Canadian who had logged CMTs over 300 years old.{{cite news |last1=CBC News |title=Culturally modified tree-cutting trial resumes |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/culturally-modified-tree-cutting-trial-resumes-1.236317 |access-date=28 January 2026 |publisher=CBC |location=Canada |date=17 November 2000 }} The oldest ''living'' CMT was found in British Columbia, an example of bark stripping that dates to {{date|1186}}.. On [Hanson Island](/source/Hanson_Island) alone, David Garrick documented 1800 CMTs. The [Kwakwaka'wakw](/source/Kwakwaka'wakw) of the region could stop the destruction of their archive. Garrick also found trees in the [Great Bear Rainforest](/source/Great_Bear_Rainforest) on the territory of the [Gitga'at First Nation](/source/Gitga'at_First_Nation). They are supposed to be logged for a street in the area of [Langford](/source/Langford%2C_British_Columbia). In February 2008, the ''[Times Colonist](/source/Times_Colonist)'' reported of protesters being removed.Bill Cleverley, RCMP move in on anti-highway protest site, in: Times Colonist, 13 February 2008. No license was given between 1996 and 2006, but in that year it was allowed once again - against the resistance of the [Haida](/source/Haida_people) on Haida Gwaii. Even if 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. Consequently, [Hupacasath First Nation](/source/Hupacasath_First_Nation) on the western shore of [Vancouver Island](/source/Vancouver_Island) claims a protective zone around the trees of at least {{convert|20|-|30|m}}.{{cite web |title=Hupacasath First Nation v. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada (T-153-13) – Affidavit of Carolyn Brenda Sayers and Hupacasath Land Use Plan Phase 2 |url=https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw3215.pdf |website=International Investment Law Project (italaw.com) |publisher=italaw |date=14 October 2013 |access-date=11 January 2026 |format=PDF |quote=Includes Hupacasath Land Use Plan Phase 2, prepared by Tom Whitfield and Tawney Lem for Hupacasath First Nation (Exhibit B) }}{{rp|15-58}} The trees are a source of utmost importance for the history of the First Nations, a history that is heavily dependent on [oral tradition](/source/oral_tradition)s and archaeological findings for the pre-contact phase.{{rp|126}} This causes many problems for [historian](/source/historian)s, [ethnohistorian](/source/ethnohistorian)s, [anthropologist](/source/anthropologist)s. As awareness grew, [conservation standards](/source/Heritage_conservation_in_Canada) began to be established in the early 1980s, however, surviving [old-growth forests](/source/old-growth_forests) with [preserved evidence of use](/source/Evidence_management) had already been heavily impacted by [industrial logging](/source/Wood_industry).{{cite journal | last = Earnshaw | first = Jacob K. | year = 2019 | title = Cultural Forests in Cross Section: Clear-Cuts Reveal 1,100 Years of Bark Harvesting on Vancouver Island, British Columbia | journal = American Antiquity | volume = 84 | issue = 3 | pages = 516–530 | doi = 10.1017/aaq.2019.29 | jstor = 26749695 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/26749695 }} Access to sacred places is often constrained, in the case of the [Nuu-chah-nulth](/source/Nuu-chah-nulth_people) on [Vancouver Island](/source/Vancouver_Island), only elders know the corresponding rituals, devices, stories and dances, so obtaining appropriate consent is required.{{cite news |last1=Black Press Media Staff |title=Cedar trees weave deeply into lives of coastal First Nations communities |newspaper=Oak Bay News |date=22 April 2021 |url=https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/community/cedar-trees-weave-deeply-into-lives-of-coastal-first-nations-communities-7209863 |access-date=26 January 2026 |quote=“So it’s important we leave a gift such as tobacco, sage, or sweetgrass to acknowledge or thank the spirit of the tree.” }} The tiny [Island of Flores](/source/Flores_Island_(British_Columbia)) is home to 71 registered culturally modified trees. Protection is established under Section 27 of the Clayoquot Sound Interim Measures Extension Agreement.{{cite web |title=Clayoquot Sound Land Use Plan: Flores Island Legal Order Review |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/land-water-use/crown-land/land-use-plans-and-objectives/legal-orders/clayoquotsound_lud_floresisland_luor_26jun2008.pdf |website=Government of British Columbia |publisher=British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range; British Columbia Ministry of Environment |date=26 June 2008 |access-date=12 January 2026 |format=PDF }} After historians and the courts had recognized that the trees of [Meares Island](/source/Meares_Island) are crucial for the 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.{{cite report | title = The Significance and Management of Culturally Modified Trees | author = Morley Eldridge | publisher = Millennia Research Ltd. | department = Vancouver Forest Region / CMT Standards Steering Committee | year = 1997 | url = https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents_staticpost/cearref_3394/hearings/SM03.pdf | format = PDF | pages = 36 | access-date = 2026-01-05 | type = Final report | location = British Columbia, Canada | ref = significance_assessment }} Gottesfeld could detect 21 species, which played a certain role as CMTs.{{cite journal |last=Gottesfeld |first=L. J. M. |year=1992 |title=The importance of bark products in the aboriginal economies of northwestern British Columbia, Canada |journal=Economic Botany |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=148–157 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/BF02930629 }} Of utmost importance is the [Western red cedar](/source/Western_red_cedar) (''Thuja plicata''), but the yellow cedar (''[Chamaecyparis nootkatensis](/source/Chamaecyparis_nootkatensis)''), spruces (''[Picea glauca](/source/Picea_glauca)'' u.a.), hemlock (''[Tsuga heterophylla](/source/Tsuga_heterophylla)''), pines (''[Pinus contorta](/source/Pinus_contorta)'', ''[Pinus ponderosa](/source/Pinus_ponderosa)''), in addition ''[Populus tremuloides](/source/Populus_tremuloides)'', ''[Populus trichocarpa](/source/Populus_trichocarpa)'' and ''[Alnus rubra](/source/Alnus_rubra)'' are also quite frequent. The bark of hemlock and certain spruces was important for nourishment and medicine.{{cite web | title=Traditional Food Fact Sheets (BC First Nations) | url=https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/Traditional_Food_Fact_Sheets.pdf | website=First Nations Health Authority }} The resin of spruces was used as a kind of glue.{{cite web | title=White Spruce : Ethnobotanical Uses | url=https://libraryexhibits.uvm.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/uvmtrees/white-spruce-introduction/white-spruce-uses | website=University of Vermont Library Exhibits }} ===Scandinavia=== CMTs have become important for the history of Scandinavia, too. The [Sami people](/source/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 [fossil](/source/fossil) trees have become an important source for human history.{{cn|date=September 2024}} ===United States=== The most surprising fact was a consequence of research within the [Bob Marshall Wilderness](/source/Bob_Marshall_Wilderness) in northwestern [Montana](/source/Montana). This is a wilderness of about 3,000 km2 (in addition another 3000 of neighbouring wildernesses) that was never used by non-aboriginal people. There are no houses, streets, fields or pastures. Nevertheless, the CMTs showed that between at least 1665 and 1938 indigenous people peeled the bark and conducted other uses.{{cn|date=September 2024}} In 1985 a protection program was started in Washington's [Gifford Pinchot National Forest](/source/Gifford_Pinchot_National_Forest). At 338 spots, more than 6000 CMTs were identified, of which 3000 are protected now.{{cn|date=September 2024}} Seventeen CMTs were found in the Blue Mountain area within [Pike National Forest](/source/Pike_National_Forest), at least 26 in [Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument](/source/Florissant_Fossil_Beds_National_Monument). Trees more than 200 years old were registered in [Manitou Experimental Forest](/source/Manitou_Experimental_Forest) north of [Woodland Park](/source/Woodland_Park%2C_Colorado). Most of these trees within the territory of the [Ute](/source/Ute_tribe) are [ponderosa pines](/source/ponderosa_pines). Ute elders have differing opinions as to whether CMTs are a tradition.[https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/are-these-trees-culturally-modified-or-just-bent-depends-on-whom-you-ask/ Are these trees culturally modified ... or just bent? Depends on whom you ask.] 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](/source/Colorado_Historical_Society) decided to invest a part of its 7 million dollar budget into a CMT project in [Mesa Verde National Park](/source/Mesa_Verde_National_Park).{{cn|date=January 2026}} The Bureau of Land Management provides this form for the documentation of CMTs, in conjunction with History Colorado's Office of Archaeology & Historic Preservation.[https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/Programs-Cultural%20Heritage%20and%20Paleontology-Archaeology-What%20We%20Manage-Colorado-Culturally%20Modified%20Tree%20Form.pdf CULTURALLY MODIFIED TREE FORM] == References == {{Reflist}} == Further reading == * R. Andersson, Historical Land-Use Information from Culturally Modified Trees, Diss. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea 2005 * 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](/source/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. * {{cite journal |last=Gottesfeld |first=L. M. J. |title=The importance of bark products in the aboriginal economies of northwestern British Columbia, Canada |journal=Economic Botany |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=148–157 |year=1992 |doi=10.1007/BF02930629 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02930629 |access-date=11 January 2026 |url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last1=Hebda |first1=R. J. |last2=Mathewes |first2=R. W. |title=Holocene history of cedar and Native Indian cultures of the North American Pacific Coast |journal=Science |volume=225 |issue=4663 |pages=711–713 |year=1984 |doi=10.1126/science.225.4663.711 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.225.4663.711 |access-date=11 January 2026 |url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Leslie Main |title=A Place That's Good: Gitksan Landscape Perception and Ethnoecology |journal=Human Ecology |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=301–325 |year=2000 |doi=10.1023/A:1007076221799 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1007076221799 |access-date=11 January 2026 |url-access=subscription }} * 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](/source/Stikine_Tlingit) and the Tsimshian. A report to the Alaska Humanities Forum, Grant 1999, 36-96 * {{cite journal |last1=Mobley |first1=Charles M. |last2=Eldridge |first2=Morley |title=Culturally Modified Trees in the Pacific Northwest |journal=Arctic Anthropology |volume=29 |issue=2 |year=1992 |pages=91–110 |jstor=40316316 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316316 }} * {{cite journal |last=Oliver |first=Jeff |title=Beyond the water's edge: Towards a social archaeology of landscape on the Northwest Coast |journal=Canadian Journal of Archaeology / Journal Canadien d'Archéologie |volume=31 |issue=1 |year=2007 |pages=1–27 |url=https://canadianarchaeology.com/caa/publications/canadian-journal-archaeologyjournal-canadien-darcheologie/31/1/beyond-waters-edge |access-date=2026-01-27 }} * {{cite journal |last=Pegg |first=Brian |title=Dendrochronology, CMTs, and Nuu‑chah‑nulth History on the West Coast of Vancouver Island |journal=Canadian Journal of Archaeology / Journal canadien d’archéologie |volume=24 |pages=77–88 |year=2000 |issn=0705-2006 |url=https://canadianarchaeology.com/caa/publications/canadian-journal-archaeologyjournal-canadien-darcheologie/24/12/dendrochronology-cmts |access-date=11 January 2026 }} * {{cite journal |last=Prince |first=P. |title=Dating and Interpreting Pine Cambium Collection Scars from Two Parts of the Nechako River Drainage, British Columbia |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=28 |pages=253–263 |year=2001 |doi=10.1006/jasc.2000.0561 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440300905612 |access-date=11 January 2026 |url-access=subscription }} * 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): [https://web.archive.org/web/20080212152326/http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/SacredCedar_sm.pdf Stryd/Feddema] * {{cite journal |last1=Stryd |first1=Arnoud H. |last2=Eldridge |first2=Morley |title=CMT Archaeology in British Columbia: The Meares Island Studies |journal=BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly |volume=99 |pages=184–234 |year=1993 |url=https://bcstudies.com/issue-single/bc-studies-no-99-autumn-1993/ |access-date=11 January 2026 }} * 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 == {{Portal|Trees}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080226121119/http://www.millennia-research.com/tree.htm Millennia Research] * [http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/mr/Mr091.htm British Columbia Ministry of Forest - CMT Handbook] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060313184959/http://wavelengthmagazine.com/2003/fm03modtree.php Chris Hudson, Culturally Modified Trees, in: WaveLength Magazine, March 2003] * [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3854/is_200201/ai_n9046534 Lars Ostlund, Olle Zackrisson, GregerHornberg, Trees on the border between nature and culture: Culturally modified trees in boreal Sweden, January 2002] * [http://www.library.unr.edu/sheepherders/arborglyphs.html Sheepherders of Northern Nevada. A Multimedia Exhibit - Arborglyphs] - arboglyphs of Basque herders * [https://www.elpasoco.com/culturally-modified-trees/ A video from El Paso County, Colorado, describing Culturally Modified Trees in Fox Run Regional Park, April 2018] {{DEFAULTSORT:Culturally Modified Trees}} Category:Trees Category:Ethnobotany --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Culturally modified tree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturally_modified_tree) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturally_modified_tree?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.