https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182754118
Sitka Spruce are common in Southcentral Alaska (within Alaska, Sitka Spruce can be found in a narrow strip along the Pacific coast), but not so common in the lower 48 (“Sitka Spruce”), in coming across this magnificent tree, I was struck by how something that is common where I live, and uncommon in places many other Americans live bolstered my sense of place and pride in where I am. It lends, surprisingly, to a sense of belonging.
The Sitka Spruce is the Alaska state tree, apart from its modern-day uses for lumber and pulpwood, it was used by Natives historically as a source of vitamin C, with the inner bark being used as a laxative. The roots were used for ropes, fishing lines, and twine to sew boxes and baskets (“Tree Book”).
On this blustery, wet day, I’m struck by how well Native Alaskans used every portion of flora and fauna they harvested from the land, including this beautiful spruce. While it seems obvious they would determine they could use the wood to make fires and build structures, determining the tree had a medicinal purpose, AND deciding they could also use the roots for basket weaving is, in my opinion, one of the many remarkable things that separate Native Alaskans from the colonizers. As I develop my sense of place, I hope to aspire to carry this ethos through my own days, to consider how I am using the resources that are so plentiful here in the interest of conservation and waste avoidance.
Citations
Sitka Spruce: Harris, A. (n.d.). Sitka Spruce. US Dept of Agriculture Forest Service. Retrieved September 15, 2023, from https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/picea/sitchensis.htm#:~:text=Native%20Range,in%20northern%20California.
Tree Book: Parish, R. (1994). Tree book: Learning to recognize trees of British Columbia. Canadian Forest Service.
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