Wild rice’s health benefits
Wild rice, known by its Ojibwe name as manoomin, is an important part of Ojibwe culture.
“I can’t really overstate how centered manoomin is to Ojibwe identity,” David said.
The Ojibwe had once lived on the eastern seaboard, according to the tribal migration story, and there was a prophecy that stated if they wanted to survive as a people they would have to move west.
They kept moving westward for several generations as the prophecy commanded until they found “a place where the food grows on water” and they finally found their home in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Wild rice is a food that has high nutritional value and can be stored for a long time, such as through winter.
“It was really an important sustenance food,” David said.
Wild rice contains about 10.5 grams of protein, nearly 4 grams more than white rice, about 4 more grams of fiber than white rice, 8 more milligrams of calcium than white rice and more than 359 more milligrams of potassium than white rice.
It also is very high in antioxidants and is gluten-free, David said.
Wild rice grows in shallow wetlands between a half-foot to 3 feet in depth in rich, organic substrates.
It is typically harvested by two people in a non-motorized canoe with one using a push pole to provide the propulsion and the other using two sticks to gently shake the stalks to loosen the rice grains that fall into the boat.
With this method, about 90% of the seeds fall back into the water, ensuring another crop for the next year.
Each seed is enclosed in a husk, and the traditional process for separating the rice
See WILD RICE, Page 7E