The Maple Tree

Birch bark box with quillwork; made in Canada by Rose Williams, Ojibwa, 1983.

The maple tree plays a significant role in the Ojibwe culture, this is represented on this object through the maple leaves on the lid of the box. Maple sugar and syrup were staples in the Ojibwe diet because it would last all year and could be traded for other goods. The maple sugaring season, which is in the early spring, was a big social event that everyone participated in. The sugaring season was about six weeks long and required participation from everyone in the community (Corbiere, 2015). The maple sugar process was carried out primarily by women, while men carried out supporting roles like cutting firewood and providing food from hunting (Redix, 2018). Maple trees were tapped with spouts to ease the collection process. As the temperature began to rise, the sap descended along the spout, and the sap was collected in birch bark baskets of different shapes and sizes, and boiled in kettles over open fires. The thick molasses like sugar would then be cooled and eaten as is or it would be made into granulated sugar (Thomas, 2005).