Gathering fresh
sap and cooking it into syrup or sugar helps Ojibwe families tap
into the health benefits of subsistence foods
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The Maday family boils
maple sap into syrup in their front yard on the Bad River
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin during
sugarbush time in March 2021. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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ODANAH, Wisconsin Sugarbush time begins in the fleeting
moments when winter first signals its departure, making way for
spring. When the daytime temperatures rise above 40 degrees, usually
about mid-March, the maple sap begins to flow.
Although one can continue to gather sap after trees begin to bud,
the syrup is bitter. Sugarbush is a short, delicious season of intense
work signaling that the first fruits of the earth are emerging.
Fresh maple sap is highly perishable and must be cooked into syrup
or sugar soon after gathering. Sugarbush time usually lasts about
3 weeks.
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Howie Maday, 5, tastes
the sap from a newly tapped maple tree during sugarbush season
in March 2021. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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Long ago, the sap was cooked down into sugar, easier to store and
lighter than syrup.
But the sugarbush is about far more than maple syrup on pancakes.
As with most Ojibwe traditional ways, tapping trees in the early
spring and gathering sap for syrup and sugar cakes not only provides
tasty food but offers lessons for life.
Today, the business of the sugarbush, or iskigamizigan in the Ojibwe
language, also has an element of Indigenous activism. Ojibwe bands
in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have rights to hunt and gather
on ceded lands affirmed by the Treaties of 1836, 1837 and 1842.
Until the 1980s, however, after tribes sued for those rights in
federal courts, both states prevented Ojibwe citizens from hunting,
gathering or fishing off reservation lands. Iskigamizigan is an
affirmation of treaty rights, emphasizing Ojibwe's inherent rights
to healthy sustainable subsistence foodstuffs.
Ojibwe have long relied on the maple tree - known as ininaatiq
or man tree - for food and a product with which to barter or sell.
Unlike white sugar, maple syrup and maple sugar contain riboflavin,
thiamine, manganese, zinc, magnesium, calcium, iron, selenium and
potassium. According to research funded by the Federation of Quebec
Maple Producers, maple syrup also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
properties as well as polyphenols, which inhibit the enzymes responsible
for converting carbohydrates to sugars, offering a possible method
for managing Type 2 diabetes.
According to historical data collected by Paul DeMain of the Oneida
and Ojibwe tribes, a typical Ojibwe family during the late 19th
century produced around 1,000 pounds of maple sugar. Since about
40 gallons of sap are required to make one gallon of syrup or eight
pounds of sugar, the family would have tapped about 900 trees. DeMain
is an avid proponent of food sovereignty in which Native peoples
use local resources to feed themselves.
But as settlers began to cut the forests for timber and states
grew more restrictive toward tribal hunting, fishing and gathering
rights, Ojibwe began to move away from the sugarbush, relying instead
on store-bought sugar.
DeMain shared some of the traditional teachings about iskigamizigan.
"Originally it was said that a maple tree arrived and it dripped
syrup rather than sap. The Anishinaabe or Ojibwe ended up lying
under the tree and letting the syrup drip directly into their mouths.
Soon they gained weight and became sick; they grew under the influence
of the Windigoo, an out-of-balance spirit who feeds on greed," he
said.
"Seeing this, the Creator and other spirits took action. They thinned
out the sap so that Anishinaabe would have to work hard in order
to get at that delicious ingredient."
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Maple sap is collected in buckets for boiling
into maple syrup on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Reservation
in Wisconsin. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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A sign welcomes people to Mashkiiziibii,
Medicine River, on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians reservation in Wisconsin. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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Bringing families together
Although sugarbush demands a lot of hard work, Ojibwe are rewarded
with the healing fellowship of time spent with friends and family
as well as healthy food.
In recent years, more Ojibwe are returning to the wisdom of subsistence
living in search of culture, health and community. One of the greatest
benefits of activities such as sugarbush is mental health.
It was the iskigamizigan that helped the Maday family on the Bad
River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation in Wisconsin grieve
the loss of their grandparents.
"After my grandparents died, my son Pierce wanted to find a way
to bring our family back together again," said Lynn Maday Bigboy,
director of Maskiiziibii or Medicine River Youth Services in Bad
River. Bigboy is a citizen of the Bad River Band.
After learning about the sugarbush from other tribal citizens,
then-13-year-old Pierce convinced his large, extended family to
begin making syrup in 2012.
"It's helped bring our family together; it gives us time to reconnect
to each other and the land," she said.
"We've been doing it every year since then."
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Nate Ante, a member of
the Maskiiziibii Youth Services team carries maple sap out
of the forest during sugarbush time in March 2021. (Photo
by Mary Annette Pember)
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After the long winter
Bigboy soon realized that sugarbush could offer the same healing
and reconnection to others. With the support of the tribe, she and
the youth services staff organize a community sugarbush.
"We all have that thread that pulls us to the Earth and the community.
It's healthy and healing to honor that connection."
Traditionally, families would camp out in the forest collecting
sap and boiling it into sugar until the harvest was finished.
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Pierce Maday carries
buckets of maple sap to be boiled into syrup on the Bad River
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin during
sugarbush time in March 2021. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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A finished bottle of
maple syrup made by the Maskiiziibii Youth Services team.
(Photo by Mary Annette Pember)
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Although few people today camp out for the duration of sugarbush,
many enjoy the opportunity to spend time with relatives and members
of the community, sharing culture and enjoying the sweet taste of
maple syrup.
"The name of our community was originally Maskiiziibii or Medicine
River. Our elders said that everything Ojibwe need for a healthy
life is available here in Maskiiziibii and I really believe that,"
Maday said.
Smoke from homemade cooking stoves billow into the night on Maskiiziibii
as people cook their sap down into syrup and sometimes maple sugar
cakes.
"Everyone is welcome at the community sugarbush," she said.
"We love it when people come and tell stories. That's what sugarbush
is about after the long winter, especially during the isolation
of COVID. It's a time to see each other and share those good, deep-belly
laughs."
Mary Annette Pember, a citizen of the Red Cliff Ojibwe tribe,
is a national correspondent for Indian Country Today.
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