It's almost spring, and the maple sap is running in Kitigan Zibi

It's beginning to feellike spring after a deeplycold winter,and that means one thingat Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg'ssugarbush.

Thousands of maple trees across90 hectares of the band's territoryjust started running Friday.

Maple water fromabout 16,500 taps is now coursing through75 kilometres of tubinginto a gleaming facility,where it'll be turned to syrup.

The First Nation in western Quebec runs its own maple syrup business, called Awazibi, employing10 community members on a seasonal basis.

Blythe Commando who worked at Awazibi for years and isKitigan Zibi's lead land guardian says the community decided to developa commercial sugarbush afterthe land was cut off fromforestry activity.

Blending tradition with technology

"It's ...a way to create jobs within the community and keep the jobs in the community," he told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning earlier this week.

Raw maple water is about two per cent sugar. A process of reverse osmosis removes some of the water, upping the concentration to about 12 per cent. And that's when the boiling begins.

"It speeds up the boiling time and also saves costs because you're burning less fuel inside the evaporator," Commando says.

The sugarbush is in line with Awazibi'sgoal of blending tradition with technology, but Commando says he does have a fondness for the old ways.

WATCH | Maple syrup production at Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg underway as spring melt begins

Maple syrup production at Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg underway as spring melt begins

3 years ago

Duration 1:24

Blythe Commando, Kitigan Zibi's lead land guardian, says the communitys Awazibi maple syrup production facility is a source of pride and a way to stay connected to the land.

"It was a thing that we did as a family my grandmothers, my uncles, my parents, cousins, we would all pitch in and help," Commando recalledfrom his childhood.

"We'd empty the buckets out of the trees into the snowmobile of my uncle. It was a very social event and it was a way for us to gather and practice our traditional activities and just ... keep that tradition alive. Every year we look forward to that maple season just for that."

But the First Nation is proud ofits work.

"There's a part of me that always wants to go back to the way we used to do it, because it was just very simple. And it was beautiful, being with your family out on the land. But ... we have a strong pride because the building was built from the hands of our own people, all the workers are our own people," he says.

LISTEN | More of Stu Mills' interview with Blythe Commando