Throughout the four seasons the resources here sustained the Ojibwe for many years. From Lake Superior they would obtain fish year-round. In the fall they would harvest game and gather wild rice. In late winter they would tap the maple trees for their sap which was boiled into sugar. When the blossoms began to show, plants such as leeks, march marigold, and fiddleheads were used for food. Wintergreen, Labrador tea, and sweet flag were some plants that were used medicinally. The bark from the white birch was used to make wigwams, storage containers, and canoes. When summer came, berries such as strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries were gathered. Franklin Basina, and Ojibwe elder had once said, 'When I was young those blueberries hung like grapes on those islands. I can only imagine what they used to be like before the other settlers came.' Enough of these once plentiful resources were taken by the Ojibwe to carry them throughout the seasons.
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