The maple season began early this year, due to a record warm winter that caused sap to flow ahead of its usual seasonal schedule, but some Michigan tribes are holding off on tapping trees this year to let the maples rest.
The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has been tapping maple trees for the last 30 years, with the Elijah Elk Seventh Generation Program.
The syrup is used in exchange for services, but for the first time in the last three decades, the tribe won't be tapping due to weather-related stress on the trees.
"We just had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good year," said Lee Ann Ruffino, a cultural resources manager with the program.
Record-breaking warm winter caused the sap to flow as early as January in some parts of the Midwest — a couple of months ahead of the typical season.
Ruffino said she had predicted the early flow was going to be short-lived, and maple trees are already starting to bud.
"Hopefully, the trees will be all good next year, but it's good to let them rest because when you a drill a hole in them and essentially let them bleed," Ruffino said. "There's probably only going to be a couple of good days where they flow, and it's just wasn't worth it."
Ruffino said the tribe held a ceremony earlier this month to pray for the trees' recovery. She said the ceremony helped acknowledge, "everything the Earth gives to us...and that was our way of giving back to those trees."
"The name for maple tree is ininaatig, and it's [similar to] the word for young man," Ruffino said. "I think our ancestors regarded the trees as people, as a family. If they're sick or confused about the weather, you wouldn't try to take from them."
