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Project 57 Week 34: Manoomin (wild rice)
In Anishnaabemowin/Ojibwe manoonmin “is the word for ‘good seed’ or ‘good berry’ and is a wild rice, “a very valuable grain that has been used by the First Nations people from parts of North America, as food, for thousands of years” (Kawartha Lakes Public Library). While a culinary staple, manoomin is also “used medicinally” when mixed with “herbs ... to make poultices” and ceremonially as a “spirit offering at funerals” or to “express gratitude to the spirit provider for the gift of wild rice” (Kawartha Lakes Public Library). Since manoomin has cultural and spiritual meaning beyond mere sustenance, “some Anishinaabeg communities” insist that it remain a “wild harvested food and not a cultivated crop” (Kawartha Lakes Public Library).
Manoomin is a significant part of Anishnaabe culture and is embedded in “cultural identity” as a “sacred food” where even the “act of gathering wild rice is seen as a way to connect the natural world to one’s spirituality” (7 Generations). There are several key steps involved in harvesting wild rice: “parching, dancing, winnowing, and finishing” (7 Generations). After the rice has been “dried over a fire” during the “parching process”, it is “traditionally danced upon” like a human thrashing machine, to separate “the rice from the husks” after which the rice is then “winnowed” done by hand outdoors where the “wind” helps clear the lighter debris away from the heavier grains. The final “finishing” stage involves hand cleaning or sifting the rice to ensure it is clean before it is “ready to be stored or cooked” (7 Generations).
Author Louise Erdrich of the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa Indians of North America writes in her novel “The Sentence” the following about wild rice:
For more information about Manoomin, please consider the following resources:
- The ecology of manoomin. (2020). Pine Tree Talks Webinar 2, directed by Trent University, 2020. YouTube, 1.15 hour video.
- Wild rice and the Ojibwe. MNopedia.
- Wild rice and the Ojibway people (1988). T. Vennum. Minnesota Historical Society Press.
- Rice harvest (1980). NFB. 11 minutes.
The Decolonizing the Library Working Group invites everyone to learn alongside us with Project 57. This project is a response to the TRC Call to Action 57, which calls on "federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples."
For more information visit Indigenous Initiatives.