The Birchbark House (Birchbark House, #1)

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2002

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: "Zeegwun (Spring)"

Part 4, Chapter 12 Summary: “Maple Sugar Time”

The first sign of spring arrives with the boom of the lake ice breaking up, and it is finally certain that the family has survived the winter. Angeline begins attending school and teaches Omakayas how to make letters. Nokomis finds the concept akin to the Anishinabe practice of documenting information through picture writing, and she urges Omakayas to keep an open mind about literacy despite its foreignness.

Fishtail visits the family and tells Omakayas how fond Ten Snow had been of her. He also admires the connection Omakayas shares with animals, as evidenced by her relationship with Andeg. The family treats Fishtail kindly, and he is clearly still grieving his wife. Fishtail and Deydey begin planning the annual sugaring, which requires harvesting sap from maple trees and boiling it down to syrup.

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They all go together to the family sugaring spot and set everything up for the process. Omakayas feels cheered by the warmth of the spring. She and her cousins eagerly await the first taste of maple syrup. Omakayas loves maple, yet her first taste sends her into sorrow because it reminds her of the previous year when she fed a lump of maple sugar to baby Neewo.

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