Then we put tobacco down and a food offering. We’re asking that it helps heal us and keep us strong, forgive us if we do anything harmful. We hold it in our hands to communicate from our spirit to theirs: “Thank you for your medicine.” Photos by Michelle and Nova. When we take something, we always have to ask permission and make an offering. Once spring is officially here they need that sap.Įverything’s ceremonial. If you take the sap after the frogs come out, you’re hurting the tree. There are all kinds of stories behind that, but the tree is giving you medicine and you have to respect the tree and do it in a way that doesn’t hurt the tree. The tree is giving you medicine and you have to respect the tree and do it in a way that doesn’t hurt the tree. As soon as you hear them, it’s too warm, and you don’t want to over-take from the trees. Then you take the taps out when you hear the frogs. When it comes up to like 40 degrees and freezes at night, that’s when you put the taps in. And my 16-year-old doesn’t even want to go out there. ![]() My youngest is very outgoing and has to be outside regularly, so she loves everything about the process. Of course the little ones are always in awe of the outdoors–the little bugs and animals. I want my kids to have a connection to the land and want them to know these medicines. When I had kids, I thought, ‘Oh my God, they need to be connected to their culture and land.” This is a memory I want for my kids. Throughout history we lost our land or were displaced. But for a long time I just felt sad because I didn’t have land to do it. When I was younger, I had been to other people’s sugarbushes, and an elder at White Earth, Anna Gibbs, told us traditional stories of maple trees and how they gave gifts to us and medicine. It would have been overwhelming to do four. When you’re first learning how to boil and gather, it’s so much learning. I did four trees by myself each year I’m doubling my number of trees. ![]() So this year we combined sugarbushes on permitted land on the Fond du Lac Reservation. This was my third year, but my brother taps trees every year. The first year I tapped one tree, and I didn’t have any supplies, so I borrowed stuff. Each year I expand my knowledge and the amount of sap I collect.
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