I started experimenting last year with dyeing cedar bark strips using plants. Bark strips from Western redcedars (Thuja Plicata) and yellow cedars (Cupressus Nootkatensis) have been harvested for a wide variety of uses including clothing, basketry, mats, etc. by the Indigenous of coastal Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. This dyeing has mainly been for First Nation friends and also to support the cedar bark basketry that I have been learning with them. Not all of my dyeing is meant to be shared publicly but when it came to wanting to learn how to dye cedar bark, there wasn’t much publicly available. So here below is what I’ve learned and hopefully this can help support others wanting to dye their own cedar.

Please note: harvesting cedar bark from live trees takes training, knowledge and a deep respect for the trees and forests. Western redcedars and yellow cedars are not adapting well to Climate Change and over-harvesting of bark can kill trees, especially if they are already stressed. If you are trained and are proceeding with cedar bark harvesting, please make sure you are familiar with the practices, teachings, protocols and permissions of the People’s land you are on as we work together to undue and heal the harm of colonialism.

Materials involved: cedar bark strips, alum, tannin and cochineal.