This week we learned about wild rice, or what the Ojibway call "manoomin”, a grass seed that has been harvested by indigenous people for 2,500 years in the lakes of what is now Minnesota. We read excerpts from the book The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering by Gordon Regguinti, which follows an 11-year-old boy named Glen who is out on the lake harvesting wild rice for the first time. We saw photos of Glen’s dad poling the canoe through the water, of parching the rice in a large iron kettle, of the jigging process where people put on soft leather moccasins and dance on the rice, and of Glen practicing winnowing the rice by tossing it in a large basket, which helps to separate the grain from the chaff.
In the kitchen we made a wild rice salad with rice grown by Chippewa Indians under the label Red Lake Nation. This rice naturally grows in the lakes and is still harvested and processed by hand today, unlike other wild rice that is artificially grown in paddies (often in California) and is sold at a much lower price.
Students washed and dried arugula, diced roasted squash, measured dried cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds, chopped fresh herbs and green onions, and learned to make a well-emulsified salad dressing by adding in the olive oil drop by drop and whisking vigorously. Ms. Francis remarked in our closing circle she was surprised that something so nutritious could also taste so delicious. When we cook with and eat lake-harvested wild rice, we are connecting to an ancient food tradition that has sustained generations of people and we support the continuation of the Ojibway way of life.
