Napaq
Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carriere
Plant
Sitka spruce, the largest Alaska tree, may reach over two hundred feet tall. The smooth, gray bark turns scaly brown with age and covers moderately soft, lightweight wood. This tree has flattened, needle-like leaves and cylindrical cones. Sitka spruce occurs abundantly in the northern Kodiak Archipelago and as driftwood elsewhere.
Medicine: Spruce bud tea can treat coughs, pneumonia, and other respiratory problems. A tea made from young spruce cones is helpful for tuberculosis, stomach troubles, and colds. Spruce pitch was used to heal boils, warts, sores, and burns and to stop bleeding.
Fuel: A major source of firewood. People use the bark and twigs for kindling.
Material: Spruce wood was used in house building and in carving traditional tools like buckets, shovels, arrows, spear shafts, fish drying racks, pegs, wedges, snow shoes, and boat parts. Spruce branches can be piled to make bedding. Spruce roots are harvested and processed to make weaving material. Spruce pitch was used to waterproof the seams of kayaks, as fire starter, and as chewing gum. Ashes from spruce cones were mixed with chewing tobacco. Old, brown spruce cones are a substitute for toilet paper.
