SC - maple syrup

[Jeff Gedney]

Ras opined...
> There is a possibility that he could have found maple sugar in Florida. The 
> Seminole borders extewnded far enough north for they and the Iroquois tribes 
> to have traded. 
> 
I am not so sure about your assertion. 
Maple was, according to contemporary sources, a very common 
sweetening agent (reference discussions of Roanoke local native tribes). 
All trading done by Natives was done on foot, or by dog, until the general 
introduction of the horse, which did not reach the Eastern native cultures 
until well into Colonial times. 
Consequently Items traded were things with high value and high portability, 
such as Arrowheads, knives, Shells, pigments, pelts, beads, and craftwork. 
A family of four could use two to three pounds a year of Sugar in the 
manufacture of pemmican alone. The quantities that would have to have 
been traded would overwhelm the rather casual system of Foot-bourne 
traders. 
Besides why trade for something that you can get out of the nearby woods?
Some kind of maple, capable of producing sugar, was present in every 
deciduous forest, from Nova Scotia to Miami. Why waste good pelts on 
soemthing so common and readily available?
Sorry, Ras, I just cant see maple sugar as a trade commodity under those 
conditions.

I am still trying to find my references... I'll get back to you when I have them!
( my recent move has most of my library in boxes, still )

brandu
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
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