Letter from Winona LaDuke about the manoomin rice fall harvest
Aaniin,
In the earliest of teachings of Anishinaabeg history, there is a reference to manoomin (wild rice), known as the food which grows upon the water, the food, the ancestors were told to find, then we would know when to end our migration to the west. It is this profound and historic relationship which is remembered in the wild rice harvest on the White Earth and other reservations-a sacred food which is uniquely ours, a food which is used in our daily lives, our ceremonies, and our thanksgiving feasts. The wild rice harvest of the Anishinaabeg not only feeds the body; it feeds the soul, continuing a tradition that is generations old for these people of the lakes and rivers of the north.
On our reservation, we’ve adapted some traditional teachings to some intermediate technologies and bring forth some amazing wild rice. That is to say, after the ricers come off the lakes, we meet them at the landing, weigh the rice, and then bring it to our parching mill. There, the rice is laid out to dry. Pat Wichern carefully scoops the rice into the parchers, and then makes the fire- its wood parched for a bit over two hours. Those parchers are large drums, which were hand made in the l970s by a parcher up near Deer River, Minnesota. The hot parched rice cascades out of the parchers into cooling bins, where it will sit for a few hours, or if we’re tired, till the next day. Then, it’s time to jig the rice- that means “ dancing on the rice”, now we have a machine which runs off of our l960 tractor motor, which takes off the hulls. Then we clean the rice in the fanning mill (another specialized piece of equipment from the l980s) to get it ready for you.
I’m telling you this story, because everything about our wild rice harvest is unique- from the lake and rivers from which our rice comes, to our technology- the work of local parchers, putting together various technologies over 50 years, until we got what we needed. Our manoomin grows nowhere else in the world, and our people, the Anishinaabeg from these reservations, intend to keep this tradition alive, vital and nurturing our souls and our bellies.
I’m hoping you’ll join us in pre-ordering wild rice for your fall season. That way, we’ll know how much to get at the rice landings on Big Rice Lake, Chippewa Lake, Flat Lake, Boot Lake, or Indian Creek. This wild rice economy means a great deal to many of our families, and your early wild rice purchase will help many of them make it through the winter months with a bit more income. Your support also helps the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Native Harvest in our regional and national work to protect wild rice from genetic engineering and patenting, and also to restore and nurture the traditional wild rice economy in our region.
To order wild rice go to our website http://www.nativeharvest.com and click on wild rice! When you make your purchase, insert Slow Food USA into the business section of your personal information or insert Slow Food USA in the comments area.
Guarantee yourself the freshest wild rice available, direct from being traditionally hand harvested, parched, packaged and straight to your dinner table! You just can’t get it any fresher than that! You will be prepared ahead of time for your holiday get-togethers by being able to serve the naturally nutritious, deliciously nutty flavored grain as a perfect compliment to any other foods on your dinner table!
Miigwech,
Winona LaDuke