THUNDER BAY — Recognizing the cultural importance of maple to the Anishnaabe was a key part of the lesson Algonquin Public School students got as they headed out of the classroom on Tuesday for some land-based learning.
Students were able to watch a maple tree being tapped, taste boiled-down sap, and try maple taffy on a stick.
“One of the things we bring in is the cultural components and the traditional knowledge of the local Indigenous people around here into the curriculum. We celebrate the moons and the changing of the moons, and now it's sugaring moons.
We're lucky here to have two maple trees in our schoolyard ... we’re tapping some trees, having some sap, boiling on the fire and making some maple taffy,” said Darren Lentz, Algonquin Public School’s principal.
Lentz demonstrated how a tree is tapped, and explained the history of tapping to the students.
“It started, of course, with the Indigenous people. Here at Fort William First Nation, there are families that tap the sugar bush, sugar bushing families, and it goes way back in their history and culture.
“When Europeans came here, they learned that technology from the Indigenous people and started a tradition of maple syrup tapping and tree tapping and using these beautiful gifts from the land to create beautiful gifts for people to enjoy,” he said.
The staff at Algonquin school integrate the teachings into the curriculum, where students read, write and even do math activities on tree tapping.
The Algonquin school principal has a personal history with tree tapping.
“It's an awesome way to celebrate our gifts and strengths, and that's something I grew up with. We try to teach the kids to celebrate whatever their strengths are,” Lentz said.
Tapping trees has been a tradition in his family for 100 years.
“That's not long when you consider how long this technology has been around, but it's been around in my family for that long. I remember it as a kid. I loved it. I love this time of year and I loved the taffy, and as you see here with the kids, they're loving it too.”
Lentz said seeing the reception form the kids makes him as an educator feel great.
“We really promote experiential and land-based education. We want the kids outside on the land and learning from the trees (and) we see them enjoying it and taking it back in.
“They do a process writing and there's just that much more detail in their writing and their enthusiasm for writing about it and talking about it afterwards."
Lila and Aralynn are Grade 5 students at Algonquin school who participated in the tree tapping day.
“We're learning about how to tap maple syrup from maple trees. We learned that we have to drill a two-millimeter (hole) and tap it,” Aralynn said.
Lila was excited to tell her family about her new experience.
“I'm going to tell them how I tried maple sap and how it's much different because maple sap has more of a ting compared to maple syrup,” Lila said.
It's still early in the season for maple tapping in Thunder Bay. Sap will start running as the weather warms. The sap used in Tuesday's presentation was locally sourced sap from last year, purchased by the school.
