The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-04-03
THE LEGE END OF MAPLE SUGAR.
How SquRw WOksis Accidentally Hit
Upon II, While Cooking Her Husbands


How SquRw WOksis Accidentally HI,
Upon II, While Cooking Her Iiusbsnti'i
Dinner.
GIowland f.. Robinson In the Atlantic Monthly
The true story of the discovery Of
maple sugar making is in the legend oil
Woksis, the mighty hunter. Gong
forth one morning to the chase, he
babe Moqua, the squaw of his bosom,
have choice cut of moose meat boiled
for him when he should return: and
that she might be reminded of the
time he stuck stake in the snow,
and made a straight mark out from il
in the place where its shadow would
fall. She promised strict compliance,
and, as he departed, she hewed off the
desired tidbit with her sharpest stone
knife, and filling her best koth with
clean snow for melting. hung it over
the fire. Then she sat down on a bear
skin, and began embroidering pair
of moccasins with variously dyed por
cupine quilts. This was labor of
love. for the moccasins, of the finest
deerskin. were for her lord. She be-
came so absorbed in the work that the
koth was forgotten, till the bark cord
that suspended it was burned off, and
it spilled its contents on the fire with
"A startling. quenching. scattering ex
plosion that filled the wigwam with
streams and smoke. She lifted the
overturned vessel from the embers and
ashes by stick thrust into its four
cornered mouth and when it was cool
enough to handle, she repaired il with
new bail of bark. and the kokh was
ready for service again. But the shad.
r ~. al, l. IL e.
ward the mark that she knew there
was not time to melt snow to boil the
dinner.
Happily. she bethoueht her of the
great maple behind the wigwam.
tapped merely for the provision of a
pleasant drink, but the sweet water
might serve "a better purpose now. So
she filled the kokh with sap. and
hung it over the mended fire. In spite
of impatient watching it presently be-
gan to boil. whereupon she popped the
ample ration of moose meat into it,
and set cake to bake on tilted slab
before the fire. Then she resumed her
embroidery in which the sharp point
of each thread supplied its own needle.
The work grew more and more inter
esting. The central figure. her hus
bands totem of the bear. was becom-
ing so life-like that it could easily
he distinguished from the wolves,
ealges and turtles Of the other tribal
clans. In Imagination she already
beheld the moccasins on the feet of her
noble Woksis; now stealing in awful
silence along the war path; now on
the neck of the fallen foe now return
ing jubilant with triumph. or fleeing
from defeat, to ease the
shame of failure by kicking her. in
which case she felt herself bearing, as
ever, her useful part So she dreamed
and worked stitch by stitch, while
the hours passed unheeded. the shadow
crept past the mark, the kokh boiled
low and the cake gave forth a smell of
burning. Becoming aware of this OBJ
vious door, she sprang to the fire. |
A las, the cake was blackened crisp, |
and 10, the once juicy piece of meat
was a shriveled morsel in the midst of
a gummy dark brown substance.
She snatched kokh and cake from
the fire, and then, hearing her husband |
she ran and hid herself in the
nearest tnirket of evergreenS: for she |
knew that when he found not where
with to appease the rage of hunger he
would be siezed with a more terrible
one against her. Listening while
With quaking heart, and catching no
alarming sound, but aware instead of
an unaccountable silence, she ventured
'orth and peeped into the wigwam.
Woksis sat by the fire eating with his
fingers from the kokh, while his face
'hone with an expression of supreme
content and enjoyment. With wonder
she watched him devour the last NOR
,el. hut her wonder was greater when
the saw him deliberately break the
,arthern pot and lick the last vestige
If spoiled cookery from the shards.
She could not restrain a surprised cry,
md discovering her he addressed her:
80 woman of women! didst thou
this marvel of cookery, or has
Zosekur Beh been thy instructor
Being woman, she had the wit
o withhold the exact truth, but per.
nitted him to believe whatever he
would.
LET me embrace thee!' he cried,
md upon his lips she tasted the first
maple sugar.
The discovery was made public,
md kokhs of sap were presently boil
ng in every wigwam. All were SO
lnxious to get every atom of the
precious sweet that they broke the
,okhs and scraped the pieces, just as
Noksis, the first sugar eater, had
lone. And that is why there are so
many fragments of broken pottery, ard
10 few whole vessels to be found.