US Presidia
Wild Rice - Anishinaabeg Manoomin
Wild rice is a misnomer, as it is not actually rice, but rather an aquatic grass similar to
corn. This tall, aquatic grass has long blades that grow best in the shallow waters of the
Great Lakes region of the US (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio). Wild rice is the
only grain native to North America and comes in a myriad of colors in the darker hues—
green, tan, brown.
The Anishinaabeg people—one of the rice’s
American Indian custodians—also call wild rice
Manoomin, which literally means “the good grain”.
Other tribes in the Algonquin linguistic group such as
the Menominee and the Sioux also care for the rice.
Manoomin tastes richly complex with subtle earthy
notes of mushrooms and wood smoke. Manoomin is
harvested today using many of the original gathering
traditions. In pairs, the Anishinaabeg canoe through
the autumnal fields, bending the blades of grass over
the canoes and beating the seeds from the grass with
their paddles. On a successful day of harvest, a pair
can gather up to two hundred and fifty kilos of
manoomin. Once harvested, the seeds are sun dried or parched over a slow fire and then
threshed and winnowed in the wind—to ensure that the husks blow away.
The beauty of manoomin is its easy cultivation, as the rice grows naturally, with no need
to be planted or tended, and provides a
bountiful harvest that can be stored
through the winter. Unfortunately, the
existence of wild rice is threatened in three
major ways. Firstly, biotechnology and the
genetic manipulation of the wild rice
genome jeopardize the rice’s originality.
Secondly, almost 95% of the “wild” rice
sold in the US today is grown in paddies,
primarily in California, where American
Indian traditions are not observed. Lastly,
the recreational zoning and damming of lakes as well as agricultural runoff are all leading
to the rapid devastation of the natural ecosystems of the Great Lakes and Minnesota
lakes.
The Presidium
The Slow Food Presidium strives to save the
livelihood of the manoomin. With Presidium
backing, the manoomin is harvested in the remote
lakes of northern Minnesota on the White Earth
Reservation, which is inhabited by the
Anishinaabeg people. The Presidium works in
conjunction with the existing projects established
by Native Harvest as part of the White Earth Land
Recovery Project to promote consumption of
traditionally harvested and prepared wild rice.
Production Area: Great Lakes Region, Lakes of
Northern Minnesota
Presidium Coordinator: Winona LaDuke
Presidium Producers
Presidium producers sell their rice via Native Harvest:
Native Harvest
White Earth Land Recovery Project
607 Main Avenue
Callaway, MN 56521
888-274-8318
http://nativeharvest.com