Chief Joseph and Arborvitae Oil

The saga of Native Americans since their introduction to our pioneering forefathers has been, for the most part, a sad one. Many historians (all Caucasian) predicted that all of the Native American tribes would die out by the end of the twentieth century. Fortunately, this has not been the case -- and today many Native American tribes are starting to flourish once again.

One of the noblest of the Native American leaders and peacemakers during the last few skirmishes between the Native American tribes and the United States Army was Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perce. His Northwest Pacific tribe was forced to flee into Canada in 1877 when the treaty they had made with the United States Government through the Indian Agency was summarily revoked.

While in Canada, members of his tribe suffered a great deal from pleurisy, bronchitis, whooping cough,and pneumonia. Reaching out to the medicine men of the surrounding tribes, Chief Joseph discovered that they all used the sap from the heartwood of the Thuja plicata tree -- otherwise known as Red Cedar or arborvitae. Distilling the oil from the bark, leaves, and wood, arborvitae oil was also rubbed into leather vests during the damp winter months, to fight off chills and infections. Chief Joseph brought this knowledge back to his own tribe, and soon his people regained much of their health and vigor. He became a lifelong advocate of arborvitae oil, even going so far as to encourage his people to put down their weapons of war and start planting Red Cedar plantations around Kooskia, Idaho -- telling his warriors “It is better to plant trees than to plant bodies.”  

In modern times we use arborvitae oil as a wood preservative and to diffuse in our homes to discourage flying insects from entering. It has many other uses as well, which your Wellness Advocate will be happy to explain to you.

Contact doTERRA Wellness Advocate Amy Snyder at thorshamme84@gmail.com 

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