| Summary: | Ethnobotany The Northern White Cedar is classified as Thuja occidentalis in the Cupressaceae family along with 19 other cypress Genera. It shares the Genus Thuja with the Western Red cedar, Thuja plicata, a larger cedar of western North America. The Northern White Cedar is sometimes called the Eastern White Cedar. The Aanishinaabe name for Thuja occidentalis is nookomis Giizhik, meaning Grandmother Cedar. The Grandmother Cedar is very important to the Aanishinaabe culture. nookomis Giishik is used as a symbol for the southern direction on the medicine wheel, which is said to represent summer and youth. It is also seen as the umbilical cord that connects the Earth Mother to the Sky Father. Because of It’s significance to the Anishinaabek it is used to communicate with god through prayer, during which it is often burned for smudging and drank as tea. Cedar is also hung in homes for protection and good health (Herron, 2002). http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95913/1/Stier_Hunter_2012.pdf
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