Arborvitae

French explorer Jacques Cartier first documented Thuja occidentalis in 1536 along the St. Lawrence River. His crew suffered severely from scurvy until Indigenous guides fluent in herbal medicine showed them how to prepare a tea from the cedar leaves. Cartier dubbed it "arborvitae," Latin for tree of life, recognizing its healing power. Before European contact, First Nations peoples already used every part of the cedar medicinally, ceremonially, and practically. They used the wood for buildings, the bark for roofing, and the branches for sweat lodges. The tree grows exclusively in the cool, humid forests of northeastern North America, where Indigenous harvesting practices shaped the species' modern distribution. Early American and Canadian settlers adopted these uses across their own herbal medicine traditions.