Delicious •Nutritious •Manoomin

MANOOMIN~WILD RICEThe Good Berry

Manoomin~The Good BerryAn Historic Staple in the Ojibwe Diet

Known as manoomin, which translates into ‘thegood berry’ in Ojibwe, wild rice has played amajor role in the lives of Ojibwe people.According to Ojibwe oral tradition, centuries ago

the Ojibwe were instructed to find the place where "thefood grows on the water" during their long migrationfrom the East coast. This ultimately led them to theshores of Lake Superior and the northern inland lakes ofthe Michigan, Wisconsin andMinnesota where flowingfields of manoomin werefound in abundance.Seen as a special gift from

the Creator, manoominbecame a healthy staple inthe Ojibwe diet. Whenfinished correctly, wild ricecould be stored for longperiods of time to beavailable when other foodswere not. Besides being basicto the traditional diet,

manoomin also developed importance culturally andspiritually and remains an important element in manyfeasts and ceremonies today.

Low Fat, Low Calorie NutritionManoomin is an aquatic grain, or a cereal. A truly

healthy natural food, uncooked wild rice contains morethan 12 percent protein and is richer in protein thanwhite rice and most other grains. Gluten free, low in fat,manoomin is also a good source of minerals, such asiron, potassium and phosphorus, as well as vitamins likethiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Wild rice contains moreniacin, also known as vitamin B, than brown rice. Infact, manoomin has more overall nutrition than anyother food once available to the native diet. (Seenutritional information on the back of this brochure.)

Delicious, Unique Taste TreatKnown for its unique nutty taste, manoomin offers a

touch of excitement to menus with its unusual flavor andtexture. As a dish, it can easily stand alone or be servedin combination with a variety of other foods. Manoominadds texture and piques the taste buds with its wild,nutlike flavor.Because of its relative scarcity and the labor intensive

harvesting procedures, it is more costly than white orbrown rice and is frequently classified with "gourmet"food items. While somewhat expensive per pound, alittle manoomin goes a long ways – tripling orquadrupling in bulk when cooked.

Ripening manoomin (wild rice).Poling through a wild rice bed.

Hand-harvested, true wild rice ready for market.

Many consumers confuse paddy-grown wild ricewith the true wild rice, hand-harvested fromnorthern lakes and rivers. Frequently, the wildrice offered for sale in local grocery stores or at

roadside markets is paddy-grown rice – a differentproduct than the true wild rice taken from naturallygrowing stands of manoomin. Paddy grown rice haslarger, darker (almost black) kernels, takes longer to cookand lacks the distinguishing nutty flavor and fragrancefound in native wild rice. Paddy rice is farmed in largerice paddies and mechanically harvested. Commerciallygrown, paddy wild rice comes mostly from large paddyfields in Minnesota and California.

Carefully hand-harvested, true wild rice is lighter incolor, has a softer kernel and generally cooks morequickly than its paddy-grown counterpart.

Wild Rice Retailers and RiceFinishersSome of the best sources of real wild rice are small

tribal retailers. Some retailers will also "finish" wild ricefor private harvesters for a fee or in-kind payment.Listings of wild rice retailers and finishers are provided onan insert at the back of this brochure.

For information about harvesting your own wildrice, contact the Great Lakes Indian Fish & WildlifeCommission (GLIFWC) or your tribal or state departmentof natural resources.

Taste of the wildReal Wild Rice vs. Paddy Wild Rice

Paddy wild riceand true wildrice differ inflavor, color,texture, andcooking time.Paddy rice isdarker in color,usually blackor almostblack, andrequires morecooking time.

Easy to Prepare, VersatileTrue wild rice does not require pre-soaking or extended

cooking times like its paddy-grown counterpart. It needsto be rinsed and then cooked, normally adding about fourcups water or liquid per cup of rice. Cooking until tendermay take about 20 to 45 minutes, depending on thedesired texture of the final product.Wild rice can be used either as a side dish or a main

course; it can be served straight or as an ingredient inmany possible combinations. Meat and manoominmixtures make delicious casseroles. It is also a tastycomponent in many soup recipes and can be served coldwith a selection of meats, veggies and/or fruits to composesumptuous salads. Used in breads, pancakes, muffins andpopular as a dressing for the Thanksgiving turkey, leftoverwild rice is rarely wasted because it’s a marvelous additionwith so many culinary possibilities.

Management:While Native Americans have traditionally respected

and protected the important wild rice fields in northernlakes and rivers, development following Europeanimmigration to the Great Lakes region has taken its tollon wild rice stands. Some historic rice fields no longerexist, and others are far less abundant. The valued planthas suffered from environmental changes such as waterlevel fluctuations from dams, the use of motorized boatstearing up the fragile stalks and the introduction of exoticplants. Consequently, GLIFWC, an intertribalorganization representing eleven Ojibwe bands inMichigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, has pursued theprotection and enhancement of wild rice beds since 1984.GLIFWC works with a wide coalition of other naturalresource interest groups to restore historic wild rice beds,protect existing beds, and establish new rice beds. Besidesbeing an important food source for the people, manyspecies of wildlife, especially ducks and geese, alsodepend on it for food and habitat. Protection of nativemanoomin translates into sound habitat and watershedmanagement.GLIFWC performs annual surveys of important

rice beds to measure abundance and provides publicinformation on proper harvesting techniques andmanagement practices.

Restored rice beds on Lac Vieux Desert in Upper Michigan.

Unfinished wild rice is used to reseed select waters,including Lac Vieux Desert’s Rice Bay.

Harvesting and ProcessingManoominTraditional methods used by the Ojibwe people to

harvest manoomin are still used today. The same is true forfinishing the harvested rice, although some have mechani-ized aspects of finishing and will even finish rice for othersfor a charge. (See insert card for a list of finishers.)

The description of the traditional Ojibwe harvest of wild ricethat follows is based on an account written by Lac du Flambeauhigh school students, Jeff Allen, Raelle Allen, Gabrielle Poupart,and Bill Eckerstorfer, regarding the gathering of manoomin.

Manoominike ~ Wild RicingManoomin, called "wild rice" outside the Ojibwe

culture, has played a central role in tribal life.It has spiritual attributes, and its discovery is recorded inlegends. It is used in ceremonies and as a major foodsource. Traditionally, its harvest promoted socialinteraction in late summer each year. In August ourpeople moved to their manoomin camps for harvest.Once manoomin ripened most energy was focused onharvesting. Manoomin was our main food source.

Manoominikewin (Making Rice)Harvesting wild rice is also called knocking the rice.

Canoes are the best watercraft to use because their shapeand smoothness causes the least harm to the rice plant.The only tools needed for harvesting manoomin arethose required to move the canoe through the plants andricing sticks to thresh the kernels into the canoe.

Harvesters used canoepaddles to get to the wildrice beds, but long poleswere used to move throughthe rice beds. Thesetraditional forked poleswere used because theyprotected the plants' rootsystems. Every harvesterowned a pair of ricingsticks, also called knockers.The sticks measured aboutthree feet in length. Light-weight wood was necessaryfor making the knockers sothe ricer's arms would nottire, and the plant wouldnot be damaged. A verysmooth and light stick,hardly noticeable in thehand, was desired.

The technique used for knocking was simple: the stickswere held in each hand, and the harvester reached tothe side and pulled in as many stalks as he or she couldover the edge of the canoe and knocked the kernelsinto the bottom of the canoe. Special care was taken toclean the canoe and wear clean clothing prior to andwhile harvesting manoomin. The same method andimplements are used today.

DryingFreshly harvested rice

must be dried almost assoon as it comes off thelake. If not, it tends to moldquickly. Rice was carried tothe campsites in bark trayswhere it was to be spreadout to dry. Freshlyharvested rice continues toripen, but must have air,sun, and sometimes heat torid it of moisture beforeroasting. Rice was dried onwoven mats, animal skins,layers of grass or sheets ofbirch bark sewn togethercalled apakwaan. Whilespread out, the rice waspicked over to remove

Knocking rice into the bottom of a canoe.

Ricing sticks are made oflightweight wood, often cedar. Thelong poles used to propel the canoehave a forked prong to minimizedamage to plant roots as the canoeis poled through wild rice beds.

Drying rice is cleaned of stalks,leaves and insects prior to parching.

pieces of stalks, leaves, and insects. If all the rice could notbe dried immediately, it was preserved in its green state bykeeping it in water for up to a week. Holes were dug in thesoil by lakes, and rice stored this way in earlier times.

ParchingParching or roasting the kernel was an important step in

preserving this food for later use. This process served severalfunctions: it reduced the amount of moisture in the grain soit could be preserved; it destroyed the germ so it would notre-sprout, and it loosened the hull from the grain. The graincan be left unparched for a while, although our ancestorspreferred it parched as soon as possible after harvest.Our ancestors originally parched rice using woven rush

mats and scaffolds. A stick scaffolding that spanned thefireplace supported the mats. The rice was turnedconstantly until roastedbrown. The mats werewoven tightly, making itdifficult for the rice tofall through. It is saidthat these mats wouldglow red in this process.As the kernels separatefrom the seed shells inparching, the graintakes on a golden, thenbrownish yellow hue,and then changes to aglossy, dark brown toblack color.After European

contact, large cast ironkettles acquired throughtrade were used forparching. The kettle wasplaced over a kindling wood fire, and the rice added to thekettle. Once over the fire, it was stirred constantly so itwould not scorch. The rice would pop like popcorn if it wasnot stirred.

HullingAfter parching, the manoomin was hulled to remove

the tight fitting chaff from the rice kernel. The traditionalmethod for this involved hard labor. A small pit was dugin the earth, and the manoomin was "danced" with specialmoccasins. An average treading pit measured about 18inches in depth and two to three feet in diameter. Thesides were lined with wooden slats, and a block of woodwas placed at the bottom. In Ojibwe the pit is called abootaagan. After European contact, wooden and then

metal buckets were usedin this process. The pitwas lined with deerhide. The moccasinshad no beadwork onthem. The bottom of themoccasins could nottouch the groundbecause they wereinvolved in processingthis food. Themoccasins were kneehigh to protect thehuller's legs from thesharp barbs that are onthe hulls. Propertreading required greatstrength and wasdifficult. To assist in thisprocess, two poles

forming a V-shaped railing were erected for the huller tohold onto while he or she danced on the rice, preventingtoo much weight from being placed on the rice.

WinnowingHulled manoomin was cleaned of its chaff before

being stored or cooked. Traditionally, the rice would betaken to high ground or a rock outcropping near a lakeso the wind could aid in this process. For winnowing ourpeople used a birch bark tray called nooshkaach-inaagan. The birch bark was heated, cut, folded, shapedthen sewn with basswood fiber. The rim was made of ashand lashed to the edge of the tray.

A covering was placedon the ground, and therice gently tossed in theair. With the action ofthe tosser and the aid ofthe wind, the chaff wasblown away and the ricekernels fell back in thewinnowing basket. Thismethod also helpedgrade the rice. The chaffblew away, the brokenrice fell on the coveringon the ground, andthe full kernels remainon the tray. Oncecleaned the rice wasready for storage.

Parching manoomin.

Dancing parched rice to remove thekernel from the shell.

Winnowing wild rice.

P.O. Box 9 • Odanah, WI 54861Phone 715.685.2150

pio@glifwc.org • www.glifwc.orgFunded under a grant from the Administration for Native Americans, ACF, U.S. Dept of HHS

For current regulations contact:State or tribal natural resources departments or theGreat Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission