ATFE Akwesasne Maple Project

We had a lot of friendly faces visit Thatisetstonnia:tha(the place where they make maple syrup) both from the Akwesasne Freedom School and SRMT Head Start program. As soon as the kids get off the bus, we show them the sap in the buckets hanging on the trees. Then we let them taste the sap. Then we show them how to tap the trees. Then we show them our evaporator that boils the water out of the sap until it becomes maple syrup. Then we share a legend with them of how maple syrup came to our people. We also tell them that making maple syrup is an important part of our culture and why we have to keep doing it so we don’t lose it. Then the children leave with a small sample jar of maple syrup.

We also do this so we can bring fresh sap for the people to drink at the big maple ceremony at Kanonsesne and to have fresh syrup for a whole cycle of ceremonies the way Sonkwaiatison intended it to be. We also do it for putting it on our pancakes once the trees is dried up and all our equipment is put away. We would like to thank the students at the Akwesasne Freedom school for coming out and cutting wood when we needed it, Kiorenhiakwente, Karonies, Kentaratiron, Teiothanalli, Takanaqui, and Kanenishon. Niawenkowa to everyone else that helped out this year.