A little about why Ponderosa Pine for CMTs

Cultures all around the world have woven special trees into their spiritual and material systems. A few examples are the great cedars of British Columbia; the olives on the Mount where Jesus prayed; the Cedars of Lebanon; the Pipal in India under which Buddha attained enlightenment; the Baobab of Africa that stores unimaginable quantities of water; and so many, many more.

Ponderosa Pine, Zapata Subdivision by Aoidhne de la Foret (aka Anne deForrest Ketchin, PhD) Copyright 2025

Like special trees revered by humans all around the world Ponderosa have certain qualities that have inspired American Indian cultures who consider the Sierra Blanca/Great Sand Dunes/Zapata area as ancestral lands to weave them into spiritual and material systems:

• Ponderosa give and give and give, offering high quality food, medicine, materials needed for clothing and shelter, cradle boards, and other necessities of life. A clue to their giving nature is the  “vanilla” or “butterscotch” fragrance they sometimes emit during growing season. The inner bark/phloem is gently sweet, and makes many different kinds of food. It and the sap from the xylem/sapwood are good sources of carbohydrates, calcium and other minerals. Another clue is the “Pine” smell of Ponderosa’s resins in needles and sap. The chemicals in this resin can be combined with other plant and animal substances into medicines good for healing body and spirit;

• Ponderosa stand out in the woodland. Their reddish bark and long graceful needles catch the light in a special way. The reddish color appears as the tree grows older and the outer surface of the bark gently separates into narrow segments. As the surface of these segments weathers, it shows reddish, leaving the darker bark in crevices in between.  Occasionally, sand carried by wind and birds searching for insects and sap strip away the darker areas so that the surface of the whole trunk appears reddish;

• Ponderosa endure and grow old, seeming to thrive, revive, renew even in stressful circumstances. Ponderosa’s thick, insulating outer bark can shield the tree’s vascular tissues and generative cambium, along with inner structural wood from extreme heat and flame during the worst wildfire.

  • Some of the Ponderosa CMTs in the Great Sand Dunes, Indian Grove, have been dated as “older than 500 years”. (The age is phrased this way because the actual age is difficult to determine. Some of the trees in the Dunes Park and the Zapata subdivision are likely to be much older. The oldest Ponderosa known is around 934 years old and lives in northwestern Utah.) The three Ute Tribes, the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, and some of the northern Rio Grande Pueblos have officially told the Resource Officers of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve that their ancestors peeled the CMTS there. (When necessary for the welfare of the CMTs, the Dunes Park Resource Officers consult Tribal officials before acting.)

  • Many of the Ponderosa Pine CMTs in the Zapata Subdivision appear to be the same age as those in the Great Sand Dunes Indian Grove. It is assumed that these same Tribes and Pueblos peeled the CMTs in the Zapata Subdivision. Size and height are not reliable measures of a Ponderosa’s age.

• The presence of dwarf mistletoe is one sign of how resilient and enduring a Ponderosa can be. Dwarf Mistletoe can kill the tree it inhabits, but some apparently old, old Ponderosas in the Zapata Subdivision that show its characteristic “brooming”, bending and twisting are healthy.

Aoidhne de la Foret (aka Anne deForrest Ketchin, PhD) Copyright 2025

The Spiritual Dimension

Contrary to the beliefs of colonial settlers at the time, the peels on the CMT Ponderosa in the Zapata area were  made for more than “resource extraction”  (food and materials). Speaking generally, for the American Indian cultures who peeled them the CMTs offer living gifts, not simply material goods to be taken. CMT peels are the outcome of ceremonies expressing gratitude and acknowledging that tree and human are bonded and in a mutually beneficial relationship. The tree gives generously what humans need, and humans must care generously for the conditions that allow the tree to thrive. Peeling a tree was then (and is, where practiced now) an occasion for commitment to care for the relationship between tree and human.

All around the world trees have been understood to be channels assisting in communication among all realms, “above”, “below”, and “right here”. To some American Indian Elders of the Tribes who were in what is now called the Zapata Subdivision, the ceremonies, songs and prayers offered at the time of peeling continue to flow through the tree upwards towards to the heavens, outwards to all around (including humans and the whole woodland), and downwards through the roots to the nourishing realms below. OLD “hub” trees even feed distressed neighbors and the young saplings all around it in this way. The tree’s girth also reaches outwards, increasing the size of the vascular tissue where the sweet juices flow. Tree roots grow and stretch wide and deep into the hidden realms of the earth, mirroring in shape and extent the branches in the sky. These same roots carry chemical information and mycelial nourishment to the rest of the woodland.

Not so spiritually inclined?

Through photosynthesis trees transform light energy into chemical energy, in a sense making pure light into food. To accomplish this they draw water from their roots, and breathe in the carbon dioxide that humans breathe out. In return they sequester carbon from the atmosphere and release the oxygen that humans breathe in. Biologically, their “out-breath” is a human in-breath. The human out-breath is the tree’s “in-breath”. As trees offer humans oxygen, they also release volatile fragrances that uplift (even heal) mind and spirit as humans walk past. Strolling in a woodland and breathing in deeply all the fragrances is called “Forest Bathing” in Japan and is widely recognized in Asia as especially healing. Increasingly western medicine accepts the benefits of these volatile oils as a valuable aspect of human health, and an important reason for open spaces, parks, and woodlands. These same chemicals communicate important information to nearby plants and animals through both air and roots.