Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 4 : Spring 2010 | Page 20

Chester GAge:

Maple Sugar

Sugar maple ( Acer saccharum) is also called hard
maple or rock maple. It is a valuable tree not only for
the products made from its’ sweet sap but for many
other products. The wood makes strong and beautiful
furniture, very durable hardwood flooring, tool handles,
veneer, and a very large assortment of other wood
products including those from birdseye maple which
is also Acer saccharum. Firewood from sugar maples is
some of our very best for b.t.u. output. It “coals up” well
for long lasting heat and less need for kindling. In the
autumn, the foliage of sugar maples has some of the
most striking colors that we see. The colors range from
yellow to orange to red, one good reason these trees
have been planted throughout New England, along our
streets and near our homes.

The maple sugaring paintings shown in this article
are oil on canvas created by Chester Gage of Caribou
Maine. These paintings are from the private collection
of Ray and Sandi Gauvin of Mapleton. Many thanks to
them for their permission to reprint these works.

This painting shows northeastern Indian women
maple “sugaring” before European settlers arrived. Most
historians accept the fact that the Indians taught the white
settlers about sugaring. The women did this work. ( Most
women readers are probably not surprised). In late winter
when the time was right a cut was made in the bark of the
tree with a tomahawk. In some cases a second cut was made
below the first and a chip of wood or stick was inserted there
for the sap that flows this time of year. The sap dripped down
into a birch bark container placed at the base of the tree.
Sometimes the stick used would be made from a twig from
an elderberry bush. These twigs have a very soft center core
which was pushed out to make it hollow.
When it came to making the birch bark containers for
collecting, the ends were folded in such a way that they were
seamless and therefore waterproof. The thinner bark that
comes from young trees was probably used. It may well have
been steamed to make the folding possible.

The sap, which is mostly water and usually has 2 to
3 % sugar content was collected in the small containers and
poured into a hollowed out log or even from one report, a clay
kettle. Sometimes the hollowed out logs were first burned off
to the length desired as shown in the painting. Rocks were
made hot in campfires and placed into the sap with forked
sticks. The Indians boiled the sap down past the syrup point,
until they ended up with crystallized sugar, which was easier
to keep for longer periods of time.

The woman in the foreground of the picture is using
a leather strap called a tumpline to carry her cradleboard
and baby while she and her daughter collect and bring in
firewood. The temporary shelter in the background was made
of poles and birchbark with the inside out ( the same way
their canoes were made) because that side of the bark was
more impervious to water. The door covering for the shelter
was made from an animal hide.