Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 13:14:43 GMT -5
Gluskabe Changes Maple syrup (Senômoziimlases - maple molasses) - Abenaki
Long ago, the Creator made and gave many gifts to man to help him during his
life. The Creator made the lives of the Abenaki People very good, with
plenty of food to gather, grow, and hunt. The Maple tree at that time was
one of these very wonderful and special gifts from the Creator. The sap was
as thick and sweet as honey. All you had to do was to break the end off of a
branch and the syrup would flow out.
In these days Gluskabe would go from native village to village to keep an
eye on the People for the Creator. One day Gluskabe came to an abandoned
village. The village was in disrepair, the fields were over-grown, and the
fires had gone cold. He wondered what had happened to the People.
He looked around and around, until he heard a strange sound. As he went
towards the sound he could tell that it was the sound of many people
moaning. The moaning did not sound like people in pain but more like the
sound of contentment. As he got closer he saw a large stand of beautiful
maple trees. As he got closer still he saw that all the people were lying on
their backs under the trees with the end of a branch broken off and dripping
maple syrup into their mouths.
The maple syrup had fattened them up so much and made them so lazy that they
could barely move. Gluskabe told them to get up and go back to their village
to re-kindle the fires and to repair the village. But the people did not
listen. They told him that they were content to lie there and to enjoy the
maple syrup.
When Gluskabe reported this to the Creator, it was decided that it was again
time that man needed another lesson to understand the Creator's ways. The
Creator instructed Gluskabe to fill the maple trees with water. So Gluskabe
made a large bucket from birch bark and went to the river to get water. He
added water, and added more water until the sap was that like water. Some
say he added a measure of water for each day between moons, or nearly 30
times what it was as thick syrup. After a while the People began to get up
because the sap was no longer so thick and sweet.
They asked Gluskabe "where has our sweet drink gone?" He told them that this
is the way it will be from now on. Gluskabe told them that if they wanted
the syrup again that they would have to work hard to get it. The sap would
flow sweet only once a year before the new year of spring.
The People were shown that making syrup would take much work. Birch bark
buckets would need to be made to collect the sap. Wood would need to be
gathered to make fires to heat rocks, and the rocks would need to be put
into the sap to boil the water out to make the thick sweet syrup that they
once were so fond of. He also told them that they could get the sap for only
a short time each year so that they would remember the error of their ways.
And so it is still to this day, each spring the Abenaki people remember
Gluskabe's lesson in honoring Creator's gifts and work hard to gather the
maple syrup they love so much. Nialach!
Reposted with Permission from Honored Grandfather
Long ago, the Creator made and gave many gifts to man to help him during his
life. The Creator made the lives of the Abenaki People very good, with
plenty of food to gather, grow, and hunt. The Maple tree at that time was
one of these very wonderful and special gifts from the Creator. The sap was
as thick and sweet as honey. All you had to do was to break the end off of a
branch and the syrup would flow out.
In these days Gluskabe would go from native village to village to keep an
eye on the People for the Creator. One day Gluskabe came to an abandoned
village. The village was in disrepair, the fields were over-grown, and the
fires had gone cold. He wondered what had happened to the People.
He looked around and around, until he heard a strange sound. As he went
towards the sound he could tell that it was the sound of many people
moaning. The moaning did not sound like people in pain but more like the
sound of contentment. As he got closer he saw a large stand of beautiful
maple trees. As he got closer still he saw that all the people were lying on
their backs under the trees with the end of a branch broken off and dripping
maple syrup into their mouths.
The maple syrup had fattened them up so much and made them so lazy that they
could barely move. Gluskabe told them to get up and go back to their village
to re-kindle the fires and to repair the village. But the people did not
listen. They told him that they were content to lie there and to enjoy the
maple syrup.
When Gluskabe reported this to the Creator, it was decided that it was again
time that man needed another lesson to understand the Creator's ways. The
Creator instructed Gluskabe to fill the maple trees with water. So Gluskabe
made a large bucket from birch bark and went to the river to get water. He
added water, and added more water until the sap was that like water. Some
say he added a measure of water for each day between moons, or nearly 30
times what it was as thick syrup. After a while the People began to get up
because the sap was no longer so thick and sweet.
They asked Gluskabe "where has our sweet drink gone?" He told them that this
is the way it will be from now on. Gluskabe told them that if they wanted
the syrup again that they would have to work hard to get it. The sap would
flow sweet only once a year before the new year of spring.
The People were shown that making syrup would take much work. Birch bark
buckets would need to be made to collect the sap. Wood would need to be
gathered to make fires to heat rocks, and the rocks would need to be put
into the sap to boil the water out to make the thick sweet syrup that they
once were so fond of. He also told them that they could get the sap for only
a short time each year so that they would remember the error of their ways.
And so it is still to this day, each spring the Abenaki people remember
Gluskabe's lesson in honoring Creator's gifts and work hard to gather the
maple syrup they love so much. Nialach!
Reposted with Permission from Honored Grandfather