Cedar Tea

Cedars have been sacred to Native American communities for millennia used for ceremonial purposes, as well as medicinal.

You can easily capture the beauty and power of these trees in a drink by making your own cedar tea. This simple foraged recipe comes to us from Brian Yazzie, whose grandmother often made it when anyone was suffering from the flu or a cold.

Currently based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Yazzie is Diné/Navajo and originally from Dennehotso, Arizona. He and his wife Danielle Polk (Hoonmana Polk) are the founders/owners of Intertribal Foodways, whose mission it is to work with and for the betterment of tribal communities, wellness and health through Indigenous foods.

You can find an interview with Yazzie in Comestible Issue 7, and be sure to catch him in the PBS series “Alter-Native: Kitchen” or on his own YouTube channel, Yazzie The Chef TV, which is focused on healthy Indigenous recipes.

Cedar Tea

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cedar greens (removed from the branches)

• 8 cups water

Preparation:

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tea has a golden color.

Yazzie adds maple syrup to his tea, but I think it holds its own without any sweetener. This tea works great hot or cold, and it’s easy to make a big batch and warm it up as you need it.

Always be sure to forage respectfully.

Papercut illustration by Anna Brones