The importance of bark products in the aboriginal economies of Northwestern British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

In the coniferous forest dominated landscape of northwestern British Columbia, bark products were used to fill many needs which in less heavily forested environments were filled by herbaceous plants. Bark from woody shrubs and trees was used for carbohydrate food, medicine, fiber, and structural material. Use of the bark of twenty one species of woody plants is documented for the Gitksan, Wet’suwet’en and Haisla peoples of Northwest British Columbia. Approximately half of the woody species named by these peoples were used for bark resources. Today, most bark derived products have been replaced with manufactured and agricultural products.