The Origin Story of Maple Syrup
I have heard the sap called ninaatigwaaboo ‘maple tree water’, wiishkabaaboo ‘sweet water’, and ziisbaakwadaaboo ‘sugar water.’ I have heard that the birch tree is tapped sometimes as well, for medicinal purposes as well as flavouring. I imagine the sap from the birch tree is called wiigwaasaatigwaaboo, or if it is the yellow birch, wiin’zikwaaboo. I presume it was easy enough for the Anishinaabe to figure out that the trees would give water, but how did they know to boil it down to make sugar? The answer is in a story called “Bgoji-nishnaabenhsag – Little people” which was related by Wiigwaaskingaa (Whitefish River) Elder Nmenhs (Arthur McGregor): Those little beings have been around this earth for a long time, and there are more of them, all over this country. But you can’t see them, sometimes, but they are around though. I don’t know where they are. They never hurt anybody. And that’s how the Native people learned how to make maple syrup. Maple syrup was being made here, in Canada, long before the Europeans came here. A long time before, Bgojinishnaabenhsag had, what most people describe as ‘telepathy.’ While we were sleeping, Bgojinishnaabenhsag told us how to make maple syrup. So, when we were told how to make it, we tried it and it worked. It’s still being made today, but, it was those little wild men that told us how to do it. Bgojinishnaabenhsag, they are around yet. [Arthur McGregor, “Wiigwaaskingaa: Land of the Birch Trees,” p. 40 – 41].1
DIY
If you have a Maple tree on your property, you can tap it to harvest its sap and then evaporate the sap to produce home made maple syrup. The process is simple if you are patient. Let me show you how.
Fall
First you'll need firewood. So get some in the fall and let it season through the winter.
Make sure it's under an shelter or a tarp to keep it dry.
Late winter into Spring
Tap the tree in the late winter. You want to make sure your ready to catch as much sap during the spring thaw. This basically means you drill a half-inch hole and then gently tap in your spigot.
Then, be patient. You may have to change your bucket a few times depending on the size of your tree.
In the meantime you can prepare your evaporator. Any cast iron wood stove will work if it has a large enough surface on top. This way will produce a cleaner final result.
Personally, I set up cinder blocks in a sort of u-shape. (See below.) Make sure the vertex of the U has an air flue. Otherwise you will starve your fire. The trick is to get the fire hot and keep it going. It will need almost constant attention.
The syrup will take on a smokey taste as a result of the open flame. I like it this way, but it's not for everyone. Experiment with different types of hardwood to produce subtle differences in flavour (no pressure treated though).
maple syrup evaporator diy
Final notes
This takes hours, as your maple syrup to sap ratio is about 40:1. So make sure you have a case of beer and jerkey handy.
You can do most of the cooking on the fire and finish it inside on your stove. Don't try to cook it all down inside or the walls and ceiling of your house will get a sticky maple syrup residue and you don't want that.
Another warning, don't let the sap sit too long before cooking it down or it will spoil be wasted.
Summer
Enjoy some fresh home made maple syrup until next spring when you can repeat the process. The trees will keep producing if you take care of them.