The maple was one of the only sources of sugar for the native peoples & as such, it was seen as a gift from the creator. While the maple is a gift, the native tales are clear that this gift takes work.

The majority of maple trees are considered “pioneer species” meaning they are hardy enough to persevere. They are able to repopulate damaged and disrupted ecosystems because they have the ability to adapt to many different soil types & climates.

Walnuts are most often associated with intelligence, wisdom, and inspiration.

Greek mythology says that Prometheus, an immortal titan who rebelled against Zeus by stealing fire from Mount Olympus, gave a single walnut shell containing all the secrets of human future knowledge to his brother Epimetheus as he left him to create the human race.

Burl wood is anything but average. The swirls, twirls, and eyes dancing in the bark all create a unique, highly figured wood grain. A burl is an unusual-looking collection of tree cells. These are callous tissues. These are formed usually as a response to environmental damage such as injury or fungal colonies. The callous tissue then forms burls that are so admired.

The term derives from the French word “chatoyer”, which means “to iridesce, like a cat’s eye.” If you’ve ever seen the stone tiger’s eye, you get the idea. In woodworking, chatoyance is a similarly striking optical quality in which areas of light and dark grain seemingly shimmer or shift depending on the angle of view.

Bark inclusions are pockets of bark found within the interior of a tree. An ingrown Limb is a limb or branch that has been cut through during the sawing process.

A knot is a portion of a branch or limb that has become incorporated in a piece of lumber.