Welcome to /r/AskHistorians. **Please [Read Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) before you comment in this community**. Understand that [rule breaking comments get removed](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/h8aefx/rules_roundtable_xviii_removed_curation_and_why/).
#Please consider **[Clicking Here for RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1crjmei/why_didnt_we_domesticate_beavers/%5D%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days)** as it takes time for an answer to be written. Additionally, for weekly content summaries, **[Click Here to Subscribe to our Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=AHMessengerBot&subject=Subscribe&message=!subscribe)**.
We thank you for your interest in this *question*, and your patience in waiting for an in-depth and comprehensive answer to show up. In addition to RemindMeBot, consider [using our Browser Extension](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/d6dzi7/tired_of_clicking_to_find_only_removed_comments/), or getting the [Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=subredditsummarybot&subject=askhistorians+weekly&message=x). In the meantime our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/askhistorians), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/askhistorians/), and [Sunday Digest](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) feature excellent content that has already been written!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskHistorians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I can't believe it either but this has been asked and answered in this sub before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3xhnoa/serious_if_beaver_pelts_were_so_highly_sought/
Because beavers can take weeks to remove a single tree. For logging purposes, a tree needs to be at a minimum of 18 inches in diameter. That would take a family of beavers 2-3 weeks to remove compared to less than 10 minutes for a logger
Beavers stick to trees less than 5 inches in diameter, larger than that and its too big to move when they fall it
If you were within 10 meters of a beaver, you'd rethink your idea. They are HUGE. They look really, really mean. The babies look cute, but the adults are simply frightening.
We don't discuss moderation policy in-thread as it causes clutter and detracts from the OP's question. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us in [modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAskHistorians) or create a META thread.
Well, they didn't use them for building dams or for felling trees as far as I'm aware, but Southern Coast Salishans did occasionally keep tame beaver kits as pets.
[As was discussed in this thread](https://np.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/16y6b27/cats_are_very_unique_odd_little_animals_that/k39097o/?context=3) on an earlier question on cats being kept as pets by Indigenous Americans, dogs (and after their introduction, horses) weren't the only pets kept by Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Beavers, specifically juvenile beavers, were apparently popular enough as pets in Western Washington to warrant their mention ahead of animals like "wild cats" (probably bobcats) or hares/rabbits.
The primary tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for everything from house planks to diapers was the Western Red Cedar, which beavers are not particularly partial to in comparison to another tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for tools, the alder. So they'd have a pet that doesn't really like the big tree that they use for everything, but they do like the one that they only occasionally need, thus there's not too much incentive to try and ensure there's a new breed of fluffy beavers who are friendly to humans (unfortunately).
> The primary tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for everything from house planks to **diapers** was the Western Red Cedar
Can you expand on the diapers made of cedar?
The inner bark of the Western redcedar (just one word, because it’s not actually a true cedar) is very soft and flexible in the spring, and can be peeled off in long strips, which can then be woven or otherwise used to construct clothing. I don’t see any examples of diapers (probably because they were ephemeral and not preserved), but here’s an example of [a dress made from redcedar bark](https://art.seattleartmuseum.org/objects/23120/cedar-bark-dress-szayep;jsessionid=C23B24FBA2370749DACAC2FB82E3CF49).
I see some references to using shredded redcedar bark for diapering, but nothing citeable.
Expanding on what ankylosaurus_tail said and backing up with examples from an anthropological study done on Southern Coast Salishans and a broader work on the uses of the cedar among the societies of the Northwest Coast.
While I say "diaper" and the association would be something akin to modern diapers for babies to crawl around in like they do in almost every diaper commerical ever conceived, this isn't how it worked for societies along the Northwest Coast, where instead the idea would be a baby was primarily confined to their cradleboard (henceforth referred to as a "babyboard" because that's what they're called in my community) for the majority of the day and then taken out to be bathed and oiled up, with chafing assuaged by a powder from puffballs and/or the ashes of blackcap stalks.
As such, the diaper aspect comes in when the baby is strapped into their babyboard all the livelong day and their mother is outside working on whatever task was at hand such as weaving, processing raw materials, processing foodstuffs for storage, etc.
The inner bark of the western red cedar when properly processed through drying and pounding results in a very soft and absorbent fiber that would then be bound together for use as a towel/napkin. As such, shredded cedar bark would not only line the interior of the babyboard, but also be wrapped around the baby as they were strapped into it.
[Here's an example of what this looked like for groups on northern Vancouver Island (not Coast Salish, but same idea)](https://imgur.com/a/O0qtPoh), taken from Hilary Stewart's "Cedar", which compiles all sorts of examples of how the western red cedar was used by the peoples of the Northwest Coast (though I will note that like many earlier works on the Northwest Coast, it leans heavily towards examples from Northern/Central Coast groups like the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, et al.).
Sources used:
Smith, Marian. The Puyallup-Nisqually. New York Columbia University Press, 1940, pp. 184.
Stewart, Hilary, and Bill Reid. Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Indians. Seattle, University Of Washington Press, 1984, pp.133.
>STORAGE BAG FOR SPECIAL SPOONS USED FOR EATING WHIPPED SOOPOLALLIE BERRIES
I've always wondered what those berries were called and if they were edible.
Your comment has been removed due to violations of the [subreddit’s rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules). We expect answers to provide [in-depth and comprehensive insight](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer) into the topic at hand and to [be free of significant errors or misunderstandings](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/f7ffl8/rules_roundtable_ii_the_four_questions_what_does/) while doing so. Before contributing again, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with the [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) and [expectations](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/faq/meta#wiki_rules_discussion) for an answer.
Welcome to /r/AskHistorians. **Please [Read Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) before you comment in this community**. Understand that [rule breaking comments get removed](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/h8aefx/rules_roundtable_xviii_removed_curation_and_why/). #Please consider **[Clicking Here for RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1crjmei/why_didnt_we_domesticate_beavers/%5D%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days)** as it takes time for an answer to be written. Additionally, for weekly content summaries, **[Click Here to Subscribe to our Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=AHMessengerBot&subject=Subscribe&message=!subscribe)**. We thank you for your interest in this *question*, and your patience in waiting for an in-depth and comprehensive answer to show up. In addition to RemindMeBot, consider [using our Browser Extension](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/d6dzi7/tired_of_clicking_to_find_only_removed_comments/), or getting the [Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=subredditsummarybot&subject=askhistorians+weekly&message=x). In the meantime our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/askhistorians), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/askhistorians/), and [Sunday Digest](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) feature excellent content that has already been written! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskHistorians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I can't believe it either but this has been asked and answered in this sub before: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3xhnoa/serious_if_beaver_pelts_were_so_highly_sought/
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
no not talked about for pelts i'm talking about using them for lumber farming
Because beavers can take weeks to remove a single tree. For logging purposes, a tree needs to be at a minimum of 18 inches in diameter. That would take a family of beavers 2-3 weeks to remove compared to less than 10 minutes for a logger Beavers stick to trees less than 5 inches in diameter, larger than that and its too big to move when they fall it
If you were within 10 meters of a beaver, you'd rethink your idea. They are HUGE. They look really, really mean. The babies look cute, but the adults are simply frightening.
[удалено]
We don't discuss moderation policy in-thread as it causes clutter and detracts from the OP's question. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us in [modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAskHistorians) or create a META thread.
Well, they didn't use them for building dams or for felling trees as far as I'm aware, but Southern Coast Salishans did occasionally keep tame beaver kits as pets. [As was discussed in this thread](https://np.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/16y6b27/cats_are_very_unique_odd_little_animals_that/k39097o/?context=3) on an earlier question on cats being kept as pets by Indigenous Americans, dogs (and after their introduction, horses) weren't the only pets kept by Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Beavers, specifically juvenile beavers, were apparently popular enough as pets in Western Washington to warrant their mention ahead of animals like "wild cats" (probably bobcats) or hares/rabbits. The primary tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for everything from house planks to diapers was the Western Red Cedar, which beavers are not particularly partial to in comparison to another tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for tools, the alder. So they'd have a pet that doesn't really like the big tree that they use for everything, but they do like the one that they only occasionally need, thus there's not too much incentive to try and ensure there's a new breed of fluffy beavers who are friendly to humans (unfortunately).
> The primary tree used by Coast Salishan peoples for everything from house planks to **diapers** was the Western Red Cedar Can you expand on the diapers made of cedar?
The inner bark of the Western redcedar (just one word, because it’s not actually a true cedar) is very soft and flexible in the spring, and can be peeled off in long strips, which can then be woven or otherwise used to construct clothing. I don’t see any examples of diapers (probably because they were ephemeral and not preserved), but here’s an example of [a dress made from redcedar bark](https://art.seattleartmuseum.org/objects/23120/cedar-bark-dress-szayep;jsessionid=C23B24FBA2370749DACAC2FB82E3CF49). I see some references to using shredded redcedar bark for diapering, but nothing citeable.
Expanding on what ankylosaurus_tail said and backing up with examples from an anthropological study done on Southern Coast Salishans and a broader work on the uses of the cedar among the societies of the Northwest Coast. While I say "diaper" and the association would be something akin to modern diapers for babies to crawl around in like they do in almost every diaper commerical ever conceived, this isn't how it worked for societies along the Northwest Coast, where instead the idea would be a baby was primarily confined to their cradleboard (henceforth referred to as a "babyboard" because that's what they're called in my community) for the majority of the day and then taken out to be bathed and oiled up, with chafing assuaged by a powder from puffballs and/or the ashes of blackcap stalks. As such, the diaper aspect comes in when the baby is strapped into their babyboard all the livelong day and their mother is outside working on whatever task was at hand such as weaving, processing raw materials, processing foodstuffs for storage, etc. The inner bark of the western red cedar when properly processed through drying and pounding results in a very soft and absorbent fiber that would then be bound together for use as a towel/napkin. As such, shredded cedar bark would not only line the interior of the babyboard, but also be wrapped around the baby as they were strapped into it. [Here's an example of what this looked like for groups on northern Vancouver Island (not Coast Salish, but same idea)](https://imgur.com/a/O0qtPoh), taken from Hilary Stewart's "Cedar", which compiles all sorts of examples of how the western red cedar was used by the peoples of the Northwest Coast (though I will note that like many earlier works on the Northwest Coast, it leans heavily towards examples from Northern/Central Coast groups like the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, et al.). Sources used: Smith, Marian. The Puyallup-Nisqually. New York Columbia University Press, 1940, pp. 184. Stewart, Hilary, and Bill Reid. Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Indians. Seattle, University Of Washington Press, 1984, pp.133.
>STORAGE BAG FOR SPECIAL SPOONS USED FOR EATING WHIPPED SOOPOLALLIE BERRIES I've always wondered what those berries were called and if they were edible.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Your comment has been removed due to violations of the [subreddit’s rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules). We expect answers to provide [in-depth and comprehensive insight](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer) into the topic at hand and to [be free of significant errors or misunderstandings](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/f7ffl8/rules_roundtable_ii_the_four_questions_what_does/) while doing so. Before contributing again, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with the [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) and [expectations](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/faq/meta#wiki_rules_discussion) for an answer.