Did you know that wild rice is not actually rice but a grain from aquatic grass?  It is also the only cereal grain native to North America and is endemic to the Great Lakes area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Central-South Canada).  If you are interested in learning about the history and harvesting of wild rice, read on.

Wild rice is called Manoomin (“good berry/seed”) by the Anishinaabe.  The French settlers called it “folle avoine” (fool’s or wild oats).  English settlers called it wild rice or Indian Rice.  For the Anishinaabe, wild rice represents spiritual significance, cultural identity and connection to the land.  Wild rice also provides nutritional and economic value for the tribe.  Wild rice, an aquatic grass, grows naturally in peat and clay-soils of shallow, slow moving waters within rivers and lakes.  Some Anishinaabe still harvest wild rice by canoe using flailing/winnowing/knocker sticks to capture the reeds and then knock the ripened grain into the bottom of the canoe.   Grain that doesn’t reach the canoe is seed for the following year.  

But the manual work does not stop there.  Manual harvesting also includes:  

• Parching—heating the rice to dry it out and loosen the hulls while not burning the rice

• Dancing – traditionally the rice was danced upon to thrash the hulls.  Nowadays, a rice husking machine called a trasher may be used 

• Winnowing – refers to separating the hulls and chaff from the grain.  Traditionally, this is done by using birch bark bowls and the wind carries away the hulls, leaving the heavier grain in the bowls   

• Finishing – involves cleaning and sorting the rice either by hand or with machines.  

Today, most of the wild rice you see in stores is cultivated.  In the 1950s, entrepreneur farmers began experimenting with growing techniques by creating flooded paddies.  They then modified harvesting machinery to be used after draining the paddies.  Minnesota is now one of the largest producers of wild rice and harvests 5 -15 million pounds annually on 15,000 acres!  The three areas where you see the most cultivated rice being grown in Minnesota are: Clearbrook/Gonvick, Kalliher/Waskish, and Aitkin/Deer River.  

Of note, California is also a major commercial producer with smaller amounts grown in Canada, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Idaho.  Regardless of where grown, cultivated wild rice fields serve as a great resource for wildlife. 

Overall, wild rice is important in Minnesota food traditions in both the native and European-American communities.  Wild rice is high in protein, fiber, potassium and phosphorus and is an excellent source of B vitamins.  It can be used in soups, casseroles, breads, and meats to name just a few.  

And did we mention that wild rice is delicious?!

https://www.7generations.org/how-to-harvest-and-prepare-wild-rice-manoomin/

https://plpa.cfans.umn.edu/news/castellmillerwildrice

https://wildricebreedingandgenetics.umn.edu/sites/wildricebreedingandgenetics.umn.edu/files/2020-11/Ecological%20importance_11_13_20_jak.pdf

https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx

Photo Credits:

University of Minnesota Wild Rice Research Database, https://wildrice.umn.edu/grants-and-projects (1)

University of Minnesota, https://top10plantsmn.umn.edu/resources (2)

Lisa Olson (3)