It is typical in modern timber framing for any significant tension connection (in our work this means anything over 2 kips) to employ steel whether it be side plates (not my preference), knife plates, barrel connectors, or any number of other schemes.
It is possible to design a solution to the problem, but in this case, I would try to design the problem away.
In historic examples, as Roger points out, these types of connections were avoided by configuring the truss or frame to use compression joints only (sometimes easier said than done). In my simplified view, I think in terms of making the truss to be self supporting, where it just sits on top of the supports rather than having it pulling or pushing on the supports. This sometimes requires designing the truss to be a separate, complete component rather than integrated into the supporting structure.
For some historic examples of how the joinery was configured in parallel chord trusses, look at covered bridge truss designs.
I hope some of this helps.
