Perry Ground
the origin of maple syrup
This story happened a long time ago, back when the Great Turtle Island was new...
It was winter-time and the Haudenosaunee were struggling to make it through the long, cold months. They were weakened by the cold and dark and lack of food for they were still new to this world and did not know how to save enough for the Winter. The Creator saw their struggles and wanted to ease their suffering. So, as the Spirit of Spring was bringing his warm raspberry juice to the Frost Spirit (whose axe had frozen all the trees), the Creator asked the Trees if there was a way they could help the Oñgwe?'oñwe [human beings]. The leader of the Trees, the Maple, offered to give his blood to the people so they would have something sweet, and good, to eat. So the Creator showed the Oñgwe?'oñwe how to make a small cut in the Maple and to draw out the sap. But, at that time, the sap came out...(
But, at that time, the sap came out of the tree very dark, and very thick, and VERY sweet. It also flowed VERY SLOWLY!!! But the people were very happy with this great gift. They listened as the Creator instructed them to make small basswood tubes to direct the sap into bark or wooden bowls. When the Oñgwe?'oñwe began to collect the sweet sap and were again happy and strong, the Creator left them, reminding them to give thanks to the Maple. The Oñgwe?'oñwe danced and sang songs of thanksgiving while they waited for the sap to run slowly out of the trees. One boy could hardly wait to eat the sweet syrup and took to sitting next to a tree to watch the sap run into his bowl, sometimes dipping his finger for a little taste. But the sap was sssooooo SLOW!!! Finally, the boy could wait no longer. He took the bowl and...
He took the bowl and moved it out of the way. Then, the boy laid down under the tree with his head right under the basswood tube. The sweet sap started to run directly into his mouth!! "What are you doing?!?!?" asked the boy's father. But all the boy could answer was "Gggaaahhhaahh…" as the sap ran into his mouth. The father went over to his own tree and laid down, letting sap run into his mouth. Soon, the mother came to find them and asked why they were being so lazy. "Gggaaahhhaahh…" was all the two under the trees could answer as their mouths filled with sweet sap. So mother laid under a tree...then sister...then cousin...then grandmother...and on and on until everyone was laying under the Maple trees. About a month later, the Creator came back to the village to see how the Oñgwe?'oñwe were doing now that they had the gift of the Maple. But when he entered the village, he found...
But when he entered the village, the Creator found it empty. The longhouses were in disrepair, the fields were not being prepared to plant the Three Sisters, and the cooking fires were cold. The Creator looked around for everyone but all he heard was a strange sound coming from a nearby stand of trees. It sounded like "Gggaaahhaa…" and was very unusual. He went over to the trees and found all the people...they were all lying under the Maple trees with the sweet sap running into their mouths!! Young people, old people, mothers, fathers...all laying on the ground with the sap running into their mouths. They had been there drinking sap for so long, their bellies were puffed out in large, round mounds! Even the dogs of the village were lying under the trees, paws in the air with bellies so big they would drag on the ground if they stood up!! The Creator was VERY upset and bellowed...(
The Creator was VERY upset and bellowed "GET UP!!! All of you must return to your duties as human beings!!" The people were ashamed at their behavior and went back to tend to their village. But they all secretly longed to lie under the Maple trees again. The Creator knew of this longing in their hearts so he decided to change the Maple tree. That night, he took pot after pot after pot of water and poured it into the trees. The sap was no longer thick and sweet. In the morning, the people came back to the forest and laid under the trees. But when the sap ran into their mouths, they all jumped up yelling "Blah, blah,
blah!!! The sap is awful!" The people were very sad, thinking they had lost this great gift. Just then, whispered on the wind, they heard the Creator's voice..."Boil the sap." So the people collected the Maple sap and began to boil it. They found that the boiling...
They found that the boiling was very hard work and it made only a little of the sweet syrup. The people had to collect more and more of the thin, watery sap to make syrup for everyone. The people had to heat up rocks to drop into the sap to make it boil. They had to make bark containers from birch and basswood to collect the sap. But, by doing all of this hard work, the Oñgwe?'oñwe came to appreciate the gift of the Maple even more. They once again sang and danced to give their Thanksgivings for this great gift. To this day, the Haudenosaunee eagerly await the end of winter, watching for the sap to flow from the trees. Then, they gather in the longhouse to give thanks and enjoying this great gift of maple syrup. Dah-ne-ho
Maple Syrup Time
artwork by Perry’s great Uncle, Ernie Smith (Tonawanda Seneca, Heron Clan),
in the collection of the Rochester Museum and Science Center.
about the author
Perry Ground is a Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (sometimes called Iroquois) Confederacy. Although he was raised in Niagara Falls, away from his home community, the traditions and cultural beliefs of the Onondaga are very important to Perry. He learned to tell stories while attending Cornell University where he had the opportunity to work with some outstanding storytellers, notably Stephen Fadden (Mohawk) and Marian Miller (Seneca). Perry studied Communications at Cornell then used those skills in the Museum field, believing that sharing the history and culture of the Haudenosaunee was an important responsibility and with the hope that better understanding of the Haudenosaunee would lead to better Native and non-Native relationships.
Perry has worked in several museums including Ganondagan State Historic Site, the Iroquois Indian Museum, Shako:wi Cultural Center (Oneida), Sainte Marie among the Iroquois living history museum, the Children’s Museum of Houston and the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian). Working in these museums helped Perry to better understand Haudenosaunee material culture, artwork, and presentation style. Then, Perry worked as the Project Director of the Native American Resource Center (Rochester City School District) teaching Native Americans students about this history and culture as well as teaching about Native People throughout the School District. For the 2021-22 academic year, Perry served as the Frederick H. Minett Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
