OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 106B ************************************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 26, 2008 http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/know.htm ************************************************ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid-Bits - Part 106B Indian Legends on Maple Syrup ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ No one is exactually sure just how long people have been practicing the art and science of making maple syrup fron the sap of a tree. As we do know that the Native Americans were already using maple sap to flavor their food long before European settlers discovered its sweetness. These Native Americans have many wonderful stories about how they began making maple syrup----- " Glooskap." Many, many, many years ago the Creator had made life much easier for man. In fact, in those days the Maple trees were filled with syrup and all man had to do was cut a hole in the maple tree and the syrup dripped out.. One day the young prince Glooskap [ known by other names in other tribes ] came upon a village of his people that was strangely silent. There were no barking dogs, no children playing, no women minding the cook fires, and no men getting ready to go hunting. Glooskap loked and looked and finally found everybody in the nearby strands of Maple trees. There were many varieties of Maple trees. But in this strand of Maple trees was the Red Maple trees, standing tall, straight, and sturdy. All his people were all lying at the bases of the trees and letting the sweet syrup drip into their mouths. Even the dogs were enjoying the syrup. " Get up, you people." Glooskap called. " There is work to be done!" But no one moved. Now Glooskap had special powers, and he used these powers to make a large bark container. He ran to the lake, filled the container with water and ran back to the Maple grove. When he poured the water over the trees, it diluted the syrup so it was no longer sweet. " Now, get up you people!, Because you have been so lazy the trees no longer hold syrup, but only sap. What's more, the sap will soon run dry. You will only be able to make syrup in the early spring of the year! " The First Maple Syrup by Mother Earth Kokomis Now Kokomus made a hole in a tree, and Maple syrup poured out. However, her grandson, Manabush, was worried that if the sweet gift of the maple tree was s easily obtained, the Indians might become shiftless and lazy. So he showered te top of the sugar maple with water, thus diluting the maple syrup into sap. The Chippewas and Ottawas of Mchigan tell a simular story of the God NenawBozhoo, who cast a spell on the sugar maple tree many moons age, turning the near pure syrup into what is now called sap. He did this because he loved his people and feared they would become indolent and destroy themselves if nature's gifts were given too freely. This legend is unique in that, in various forms, it can be found almost universally throughout the Eastern Woodland Indian Tribes. This is simular for cultures that did not have a written history. The Indian woman Moqua was cooking a prime cut of moose for her husband, the hunter Woksis. However, Moqua became preoccupied with her quill work and let the pot run dry. Realizing she did not have time to melt some snow, she used some Maple sap she had been saving for a beverage. Woksis was so impressed with the meal, he broke the pot so he could lick the last of the " goo " from the pot shards The legends of the Reserve Indians were all simular. All showing how the maple sap became a syrup and how the taping of the trees had to drip the sweetness, which satisfied the appetite of the American Natives. They in turn left their marks upon the trees, showing the colonists on how to tap Nature's goodness. Time and the boiling off of the sap, made the true flavor of the Maple syrup, which our Mothers learned to strain off the impuities, and to preserve the precious sweetness that graced our early tables. These strands of Maple trees still stand today giving off their sap to more modern ways of preserving for us all to enjoy. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid-bits continued in Part 107.