One of three small Chippewa Nature Center Murals, this work of art by historical muralist Susan A. Walton, of S. A. Walton Studio in Hudson, Florida, depicts a Native American family in winter, working in the Michigan sugarbush to collect maple sap.

With great care and patience, they cook the sap down past the syrup stage to make maple sugar for long-term storage to use in the year to come.

These lands were family-managed plots of woodland for sustainably producing this valuable and much appreciated commodity year after year.

The process involved the preplanning and early preparation of watertight bark sap containers, paddles, wooden troughs, and storage containers for the final product. Wood had to be laid up in quantity well ahead of time to be dry enough for fires to boil the water out of the collected sap, and food was gathered for preparing meals for all those involved in the processing of the tree sap. Shelter had to be constructed for everyone to keep warm during sugaring season, because sugaring was a big event which took time. It was also a social gathering.

The resulting sugar was used not just as a sweetener and a treat, but also to season meats and fish, and potential trade item to obtain other things needed by each family.

The Chippewa Nature Center is in Midland, Michigan, and typically holds demonstrations of the maple sugaring process for the public.

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