Discovery Culturally Modified Trees

Five CMT's have located near the Eagle's Earth site.

We are hoping that the Government of Ontario takes note of the historical significance of this discovery and declares the site officially historical so as to protect this unique reminder left by our ancestors.

Culturally modified trees "...represent planks removed from living cedar trees by First Nations ancestors estimated to be 100 to 150 years ago long before any roads in the area. They are rare.

CMT's although well known in British Columbia were first identified in Ontario as a cultural feature during the 2000-2001 MNR sponsored cultural heritage inventory work we undertook in the Nagagamisis Provincial Park area. These were the first recorded CMT's east of BC and they were found in large numbers throughout the new and old park areas. Since then a few other sites have been found throughout NE Ontario. They are concentrated either in large clusters of a dozen or more trees or in a small group of one to three trees. The modifications were made by ancestors and some could be as much as 400 years old. There are more than one type or styles of modifications ranging from shallow square cuts, to large 1m - 1.5m long or 10cm thick removal of solid plank- like pieces 2-3 meters long. Most are on cedar trees.


Coring and dating of the healing portion of the scars indicates most CMT's are from 80 to 110 years old. This 'harvesting' of wood from the living tree did not usually 'kill' the tree as is evident from the fact most of the trees are still alive more than 100 years later. "

quote by Dr. John Pollock