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[ Home ] [ About Us ] [ Privacy Policy ] [ Security ] [ All About Hand Split Boxes ] [ Christmas Ornaments ] [ Corporate Gifts ] [ Western Red Cedar ] [ FAQs ][ Technical and Links ]
Millennia Wood is a celebration of Western Red Cedar, indigenous
to the Pacific Northwest, which hosts the perfect environment for this moisture-loving,
slow growing species. In a number of places, like on Long Island, located in
Willapa Harbor in Washington State, conditions are so ideal that living
trees are up to 1000 years old and over 100 feet tall.
 For
the majority of the past eight thousand years, large groves of magnificent old-growth
cedar, similar to what is shown in the picture (upper left), dominated
the Pacific Northwest landscape, covering nearly 80% of the area. Unfortunately, in just
the last one hundred years, these vast ancient forests have been reduced to less than five
percent of their original stand. And that number is diminishing even further, on a daily
basis. The straight grain and rot resistant qualities of ancient growth cedar make it a major source of shingles and shakes used in the US and Canada (see
Technical and Links).
Part of
cedar's versatile utility stems from the exquisite tight-grained wood of the old trees,
which, after about 200 years, grow more slowly. The grain of this wood, seen in
cross-section, (pictured at  right),
are annual growth rings, and like the pages of a history book, are a living record of the
events of the era in which they were formed. Each growth ring captures the essence of the
year in which it was created. Climatic and atmospheric conditions are just two of the data
which can be read in the laminations of the growth rings (see technical information and Dendrochronology links). You can
clearly see the rings of this tree's early life, but the outer rings are so fine they
can't be seen in this picture. This particular specimen could easily be 1000 years old.
 Northwest
native Americans regarded these giant trees as a special gift to their people and believed
they had great spirit. Cedar provided them a rich resource which they utilized for
constructing houses, tools, nets, canoes, clothing, rattles, furniture and various vessels
to hold and store food and earthly possessions.
Find out more about
Northwest Native Americans,
and the multiple uses they made of
Western
Red Cedar.
 The examples
of wood art that you will see on our site are the results of  Millennia Wood's artisan's efforts to create a lasting legacy for
the vanishing presence of these old monarchs, which, like the California Redwood and Sitka
Spruce, have been reduced to a fraction of their previous range.
Old Growth , and Ancient Growth (see technical information page), red cedar, rescued from shake
and shingle mills, is the predominant material in most of these creations. All items are
hand-crafted and hand-finished with a respect similar to that held by the native Americans
for whom this wood provided such bounty.
For
non-custom boxes held in inventory, Millennia Wood minimizes image duplication to
enhance the unique quality of each box. (See Current
Inventory).
 The crafting method used on their hand split boxes is a unique,
and mostly forgotten, technique, found nowhere else in the country and, probably, in
the world. The combination of their crafting skill and the nature of the wood itself
assures that no two hand split products are exactly alike. See our Lid Demonstration, to see how the pieces fit and the unique way
the box works.
[ Home ] [ About Us ] [ Privacy Policy ] [ Security ] [ All About Hand Split Boxes ] [ Christmas Ornaments ] [ Corporate Gifts ] [ Western Red Cedar ] [ FAQs ]
[ Technical and Links ]
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