Maple syrup/maple sugar was made and used by Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. Sugar, rather than syrup, was the preferred product into the nineteenth century, since it was much easier to store. When Native people learned how to use the sweet sap of the maple tree is unknown. The exact process they used to make sugar from the sap is also uncertain. It may have involved freezing the sap or boiling sap by placing hot rocks into hollowed out log containers, however neither process works very well. By the nineteenth century a metal spout was inserted into the tree, with a bucket placed underneath to catch the five to fifteen gallons of sap a typical tree produces.
19th Century Commercial Maple Products
Making Commercial Maple Syrup Today
Native American Foodways