The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...

fire and had the technology to overcome the ignition problem, and in the right kind of weather the veg-
etation itself would have taken care of the carrying problem (see sidebar below). All tribes on the Olympic
Peninsula had knowledge of pitchwood, resin-rich wood that was effective kindling for starting fires
and which could be used to make torches for keeping fires burning, even in wet weather.
Felling Trees and Pitchwood
The Indians had the capability to fell trees with fire, and large cedars felled in this manner by the
Indians were often made into canoes. Their unique method of felling trees was through burning a cut
with hot coals (Magnusson 2000). Immigrants at Ozette Lake and surrounding area followed the Indian
method of felling tees. Anders Nylund, of Finnish descent, for example, who came to the Ozette area
in 1890, cleared 15 acres by cutting holes at the tree base and dropping in live coals. Bellows were used
to keep the fire burning long enough to fall the tree. Nylund planted a fruit orchard, berries, and a big
vegetable garden on the cleared land (Petroff 1981). Magnusson (2000:14) refers to the technique of felling
trees with fire by both Ozette Indians and Scandanavians as “slash/burning.” According to Magnusson
(2000:15) while “the tradition of clearing forest through slash/burning was an ancient practice in Northern
Europe, which is commonly referred to as svedjebruk... there do not seem to be any Scandinavian
precedents for felling trees through burning a cut (with hot coals) as was done by Native-Americans in
the Pacific Northwest” pointing to their adoption of this technique from the Ozette Indians.
The Makah knew the properties of all the woods of their territory and described the fuelwood
properties given to spruce trees in their mythology: “To one they said, you are old, and your heart is dry,
you will make good kindling wood, for your grease has turned hard and will make pitch (kluk-ait-a-biss),
your name is Do-ho-bupt, and you shall be the spruce tree, which when it grows old will always make
dry wood” (Swan 1964:65).
Spruce pitchwood provided light for ceremonies conducted in lodges, was used for duck hunt-
ing at night, and could be used as a weapon in warfare (Swan 1964:67). Swan describes its use in hunting
sea fowl on foggy nights: “A fire of pitch-wood is built on a platform at one end of the canoe, and by the
glare of its light, which seems to blind or attract the birds, the Indian is enabled to get into the midst of a
flock, and spear them at his leisure” (Swan 1964:25). On September 19, 1861, James Swan relays the use of
such pitchwood to light Makah war canoes at night and to be used to set fire to the houses of the Elwhas
as part of their plan to destroy the village: “Each canoe contained a number of torches made of fagots of
pitchwood, split fine and tied to poles four to five feet long.”
The Makah were so skilled at making and using fire that they used spruce pitchwood in hair seal
hunting in pre-contact times, as Maria Parker Pascua (1991:48) vividly describes: “Hair seals live in caves
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