Wearing the Trees

Cedar Bark Clothing of the Pacific Northwest

“On the 15th the King came on board with several of his chiefs; he was dressed… in his magnificent otter skin robe, having his face highly painted, and his hair tossed off with white down, which looked like snow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the country cloth [of bark]… [The cloaks were] painted with various figures in red or black, representing men’s heads, the sun and moon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed with much skill.”
– John R. Jewitt, English sailor and captive at Nootka Sound from 1803-4

In the 18th century, European explorers traveled across vast distances of ocean to trade goods along the Northwest coast of North America. On arrival, the explorers became fascinated by the dress and bodily decoration of the Native American peoples. In their journals and memoirs these men noted that the people they encountered appeared very strange compared to what they were used to. They traded with the Northwest Coast Native Americans for clothing and other woven items, like baskets, to take back home to Europe. They didn’t plan on wearing the clothing that they obtained. Instead, Europeans valued the garments as objects that were exotic and interesting just to look at. Native peoples were curious about the Europeans and their clothes, too. For example, one sailor who lived among the Nootka people gained favor with the king when he gave metal buttons from his jacket to the king’s son.
The Northwest Coast peoples utilized plants and animals that lived in their environment to make clothing. Materials for clothes included bear fur, feathers, fish skin, and seal intestines. Along the coastal regions of present-day Alaska, Oregon, and Washington cedar bark was the main source for clothing for thousands of years. In fact, the wood and the bark of the cedar tree were some of the most important materials in this region for all sorts of things, from building long houses to carving totem poles to tool making to bedding. Bunches of softened cedar bark were even used as diapers!

Why Cedar Bark Clothing?

Why would someone use cedar bark to make clothes? There are several reasons why cedar bark worked so well.
The fibers of cedar bark are very strong, but can also be processed into soft and pliable strips. The long strips of softened bark could be woven into blankets, capes, skirts, and hats that were sturdy, yet comfortable. When the cedar bark strips were braided or twisted together, garments were strong and durable. For example, Kwakiutl warriors wore armor made of thick cedar bark rope.
Hundreds of years ago waterproof clothing could not be purchased at a store, so people of the rainy and wet Northwest Coast had to come up with their own kinds of clothing to keep them dry. Woven cedar bark clothing, especially when the makers added fish oil or bear grease, repelled the rain and dampness. When a person sat by the fire, the cedar bark quickly dried out. Blankets, capes, and hats with wide brims, blankets protected people’s bodies from the wet weather. The multiple layers of fiber also provided insulation against the cold. Sometimes, clothing makers used feathers, fur, wool, or duck down for added warmth during the winter months.


Harvesting the Inner Bark

How did the Northwest peoples make the raw, rough bark from a tree into comfortable clothing? The first step consisted of harvesting the bark in the forest.
In many Northwest Coast cultures, one traditional role of men was woodworking. Men used the wood of cedar trees to construct boxes, make tools, and carve canoes. Harvesting and treating the bark of the cedar tree was the job of the women. In the spring when the sap in the trees was active, women pulled the bark from the trees in long thin strips. While in the forest, they scraped the hard outer layer of bark away from the soft inner layer. The outer bark was kept for kindling, and the inner bark was folded into small bundles for easy transport back to the village. Once back in the village, the women unrolled the bark and put it into the sun or by the fire to dry out the sap. Once dry, the bark was refolded into bundles and stored for later use.

Bark to Fiber to Cloth

After harvesting the cedar bark, women worked the bark into fibers and then used the fibers to make clothes.
To get the inner bark soft and pliable, it had to be separated into thin layers. The fibers were gently pounded between rocks, scraped with a sharp wooden tool, or beaten with a tool called a whalebone bark beater. To get the fibers even more soft, they could be soaked in water or worked with fish oil or bear grease. Eventually, the bark workers used their hands to ruffle the fibers and roll them into strands for weaving.
In the textile craft called weaving, two sets of threads are interlaced to create a piece of cloth. The set of threads that runs up and down is called the weft and the horizontal set is called the warp. Along the Northwest Coast, explorers witnessed weavers using a horizontal stick to suspend the warp threads. A weaver sat cross-legged on the ground facing the hanging threads and wove the weft threads across the warp threads. With a variety of techniques, a weaver could achieve very artistic and interesting effects. Bark strands dyed black or red emphasized woven patterns. Examples of woven textiles in museums today reveal the great technical skill of 18th century Northwest weavers.
Northwest weavers and artists were very creative and decorated clothing in many different and complex ways. Decorations included braids and fringes of cedar bark and animal fur. Artists also used natural dyes to paint scenes of animals, like fish, birds, and otters onto blankets and hats. Ceremonial performers wore ornate cedar bark costumes to evoke deities and invisible forces. Many European explorers were impressed by the artistry and excellence of the clothing and costumes that they saw, and paid high prices for particular pieces.

Do people still make cedar bark clothing?

At the end of the 19th century, most people along the Northwest Coast of North America wore cedar bark clothing. A hundred years later, cedar bark clothing had been mostly replaced by European clothing and store-bought blankets.
Trade with European and American explorers, fur traders, merchants, and settlers drastically changed the ways that the Northwest peoples lived and interacted with their environment. European goods, beliefs, and technologies replaced or altered traditional ways of life, including the making and wearing of clothing. Even though it has been a very long time since cedar bark was such a large part of life in the Pacific Northwest, some Native Americans and artists today utilize cedar bark in both traditional and modern craft. People in the Northwest may not wear woven cedar bark clothing every day like they once did, but nevertheless, the knowledge and practice of making these garments remains.


Images by Edward S Curtis, Courtesy of Northwestern University Library, Edward S. Curtis's 'The North American Indian': the Photographic Images, 2001.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/curthome.html