Cultural Importance of Wild Rice
Over one thousand years ago, the Anishinaabe people lived along the Atlantic coastline of Turtle Island (North America). They were visited by eight Prophets and given seven Prophecies to follow, the third of which directed them to travel westward until they found the place where “food grows on water”. When they arrived in the Great Lakes region they discovered vast beds of wild rice, or Manoomin (pronounced Ma-nō-min). As the story is told, Nanaboozhoo, the cultural hero of the Anishinaabek was introduced to rice by fortune, and by a duck. One evening Nanaboozhoo returned from hunting, but he had no game. As he came towards his fire, there was a duck sitting on the edge of his kettle of boiling water. After the duck flew away, Nanaboozhoo, looked into the kettle and found wild rice floating upon the water, but he did not know what is was. He ate his supper from the kettle, and it was the best soup he had ever tasted. Later, he followed in the direction that the duck had taken, and came to a lake full of Manoomin. He saw all kinds of duck and geese and mudhens, and all the other water birds eating the grain. After that, when Nanaboozhoo did not kill a deer, he knew where to find food to eat.
“Manoomin, or wild rice is a gift given to the Anishinaabek from the Creator, and is a centerpiece of the nutrition and sustenance for our community. In the earliest of teachings of Anishinaabeg history, there is a reference to 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 food which is uniquely ours, and a food, which is used in our daily lives, our ceremonies, and our thanksgiving feasts.” From www.saveourwildrice.com.
For a detailed account of the role of Manoomin in Anishinaabek culture and stories of Nanaboozhoo please refer to “Wild Rice and the Ojibwe People” by Tomas Vennum, Jr., Minnesota Historical Press, 1988.
“Manoomin, or wild rice is a gift given to the Anishinaabek from the Creator, and is a centerpiece of the nutrition and sustenance for our community. In the earliest of teachings of Anishinaabeg history, there is a reference to 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 food which is uniquely ours, and a food, which is used in our daily lives, our ceremonies, and our thanksgiving feasts.” From www.saveourwildrice.com.
For a detailed account of the role of Manoomin in Anishinaabek culture and stories of Nanaboozhoo please refer to “Wild Rice and the Ojibwe People” by Tomas Vennum, Jr., Minnesota Historical Press, 1988.