{"id":6315,"date":"2026-04-16T12:51:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/?p=6315"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:51:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:51:53","slug":"sugar-moons-maple-syrup-history-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/sugar-moons-maple-syrup-history-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Moon\u2019s Maple Syrup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

History of a favorite local treat<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Sandra Serra Bradshaw
Current Contributor<\/strong>

It is that time of year again, as many in Northern Michigan begin tapping the maple trees to reap their golden harvest.

As Old Man Winter fades, maple trees offer us the first gift of the spring season\u2014a pure sap which, through lots of hard work, is transformed into the rich, sweet syrup that is beloved by many.\u00a0

Maple syrup comes from sugar maple (Acer saccharum<\/em>) trees. Though other varieties\u2014black maple (Acer nigrum<\/em>), red maple (Acer rubrum<\/em>), and silver maple (Acer saccharinum<\/em>)\u2014can technically be tapped, sugar maples are considered the \u201cgold standard,\u201d because their sap has a higher sugar concentration, requiring less boiling to produce syrup. (Additionally, other trees like birches and black walnuts can also be tapped.)

Tree sap is collected in early spring\u2014typically late February through March, here in Northern Michigan\u2014when temperatures alternate between freezing nights to warm days, and it takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of finished syrup. A \u201csugar bush\u201d is a forest of maple trees that are utilized for producing syrup, and a building where sap is boiled down is called a \u201csugar shack\u201d in English or a \u201ccabane \u00e0 sucre\u201d in French.

Long History<\/strong>
Tapping maple trees for sap began long before Europeans settled in the Americas.\u00a0

Early origins of maple sugaring are preserved in oral traditions of Anishinaabeg and other tribes of Northern Michigan and northeastern North America\u2014the Anishinaabe people, or Anishinaabeg, are a culturally and linguistically related group of Indigenous peoples, primarily located around the Great Lakes, in both present-day Canada and the United States. They are colloquially known as the Council of Three Fires, which can include the Odawa (Ottawa), Ojibwe (Chippewa), and Potawatomi, as well as Algonquin, Mississauga, and Nipissing groups. \u00a0

The Anishiaabeg referred to this season as Ziinzibaakwadoke Giizis<\/em>, or \u201cSugar Moon.\u201d They traditionally made maple sugar, rather than syrup, due to its ease of storage and transport. Maple sugar was used as a natural sweetener in many of their dishes, and it also held cultural significance in their ceremonies and trade.

Later, when European settlers arrived in the northeastern United States and tasted the Native Americans\u2019 sweet maple sugar, they learned how to make it themselves\u2014those early methods are still used today by some family-owned sugar bushes around Northern Michigan.

Alexander Henry, a British trader at Fort Michilimackinac from September 1761 until June 1763, was one of the first to describe the Anishinaabeg method of sugar making in print. He recorded the following, as he recalled a visit to an Ojibwe encampment near Sault St. Marie:

\u201cFor many centuries, Native American families moved each spring from small winter hunting camps to groves of maple trees. There, they gathered and processed their first plant-based food of the year, harvesting maple sap and boiling it into sweet, maple sugar. To get maple sugar, Native Americans put their collected sap into wide, shallow bark vessels and left them out to freeze. The freezing process separated the water from the sugar, and they would then remove the ice. Native Americans started building \u2018sugar bushes.\u2019 They boiled the sap with hot stones. When European settlers arrived, they boiled sap over an open fire to make syrup.\u201d

In these early years, it was maple sugar\u2014rather than maple syrup\u2014that was the most popular and widely known maple product.\u00a0

\u201cWe know that tapping maple trees was an important way of life for the Native Americans. When the white settlers came, they learned from the Native Americans, and they, too, incorporated it into their lives,\u201d explains Kim Kelderhouse, executive director of the Leelanau Historical Society and Museum.\u00a0

However, it was not until the Civil War that the maple syrup industry was born, as we know it today. Most early producers were dairy farmers, who made maple syrup and maple sugar for their own use and for extra income.

Technology remained much the same for the next century, until the energy crisis of the 1970s forced maple syrup producers to change to a less labor-intensive process.\u00a0

Instead, they designed long tubing systems to take the sap directly from the tree to the sugarhouse. Vacuum pumps were introduced to the tubing systems, pre-heaters were developed to \u201crecycle\u201d heat lost to steam, and reverse-osmosis filters were designed and added to take a portion of the water out of the sap, before it was boiled.

These technological advances continue today, ever moving onward the story of maple syrup production.\u00a0

But for those of us who want to produce maple syrup from the trees in our own backyards, it is a much less complicated process.

Sugaring Today<\/strong>
Bill Sterett\u2014a retired forester for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR)\u2014has tapped maple trees, turning it into maple syrup, for much of his life using the traditional method.\u00a0

\u201cMaple sugaring time typically starts in late February to early March here,\u201d he explains. \u201cWith the season\u2019s accompanying freezing nights and warmer days, this causes the sap to move upward, and then this process reverses itself at night, flowing downward into the branches of the trees.\u201d

He continues:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Sugar<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThere are multiple ways to tap the trees, but the basic process is the same: when sap is flowing freely, a small hole is drilled into the tree, about two inches deep. Next, a spile\u2014a hollow tube\u2014is fit snugly into the hole. It can be made of metal or plastic and provides the place to place a bucket or bag or a connection for plastic tubing.\u201d

The hung spile directs the sap toward the hanging bucket that is hung on a hook, fitted onto the spile. It may sound strange, but this hook is important.\u00a0

\u201cIf you pound the spile into the hole before fitting the metal hook over the end of the spile, there is no way to hang the bucket,\u201d Sterett says.

Next, he hangs the large bucket underneath the spile, directing drips from the tree into the waiting container.\u00a0

The Anishinaabemowin word for these containers is mokuk <\/em>(or makak<\/em>), which the Native Americans originally constructed out of birch bark.\u00a0

It is fun to watch the sap\u2019s progress as it fills the buckets\u2014some days giving an abundance of the sap, while other days, it is much slower.

When the buckets are full, Sterett then carries and transfers each of them into a large container sitting by the side of the wood-burning cooking stove that he has set up in his backyard.\u00a0

\u201cIt probably takes\u2014in the average boil that I do with about 80 gallons of sap\u2014up to two days to get the syrup to the right consistency,\u201d he explains. \u201cI use a special instrument to measure the concentration of sugar to sap. When I am boiling, and it tells me I just about have syrup, I transfer it to a kettle and let that settle for a couple of days. Then I bring the kettle into the house, where I filter the syrup and then bottle it. The bottling process is quite simple. As long as your bottles are clean, and you use new caps, and you are bottling hot syrup, you should not worry about the syrup going bad.\u201d\u00a0

Local Opportunities<\/strong>
For those who are interested in learning more about the maple syrup process, Maple Sugaring Days are hosted annually by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in partnership with Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, a nonprofit organization.\u00a0

These family-friendly events allow attendees to experience the process and evolution of making maple syrup from start to finish, including a stop at the historic Dechow sugar shack, according to a press release.<\/a>

After viewing the process in action, visitors are encouraged to visit the Olsen Farm across the street, to see the final boiling of sap and sugar making, as well as enjoying children\u2019s games and maple syrup snow cones. Additionally, a community pancake breakfast at The Homestead Resort offers a chance to taste this locally made syrup. (The 2026 events occurred on March 7 and March 8; check the Sleeping Bear Dunes calendar of events for future activities.)\u00a0

Additionally, the Natural Resources Department for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) manages a community sugar bush on Putman Road in Peshawbestown in Leelanau County\u2014for the last seven years, GTB has hosted a community sugar bush to celebrate this important tradition.

\u201cWe are celebrating a tradition that started with Indigenous groups in the American Northeast and Great Lakes that included the Anishinaabe,\u201d says William Derouin, GTB\u2019s agricultural manager. This program has grown to include the GTB Sugarbush Camp, which is to be held a total of two weekends during March 2026.

For generations, families and small producers have carried on this tradition, gathering sap in the crisp spring air and boiling it down to perfection\u2014the process requires patience, skill, and a knowledge of nature\u2019s rhythms. More than just a seasonal task, maple syrup production is a labor of love that connects communities to the land and each other.

\u201cI look forward every year to this season, when the sap starts to flow, not only in the trees, but it seems to flow in my blood and gets it moving after the long winter, cooped indoors,\u201d Sterett says.

Yes, tapping maple trees is worth it for the experience but do prepare for a lot of hard work\u2014knowing the finished product came from your own backyard can be a happy, and ever so delicious, end reward.

For more information on Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore\u2019s future maple syrup events, visit NPS.gov\/SLBE\/PlanYourVisit\/Calendar.htm<\/a> online.

Visit the Grand Traverse Band\u2019s maple syrup events on March 20-21, 2026. (An event already took place on March 13-14, 2026.) For more information and a list of upcoming events, visit GTBIndians.org\/Events.asp <\/a>online.

A version of this article first published in the Glen Arbor Sun<\/strong><\/a>, a Leelanau County-based semi-sister publication to The Betsie Current.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>

Featured Photo Caption: <\/strong>A boiling kettle of sap will become syrup. Photo courtesy of the Glen Arbor Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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