KBIC’s Outreach Coordinator Austin Ayres watches over participants learning and practicing gidasigewin, or roasting rice. This was the first stage participants would take on to begin removing rice grains from their husks. (Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette)

The Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) held a Manoomin (wild rice) Camp on Saturday to involve and educate anyone who was interested in the preparation and importance of one of the most valuable crops to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC). The camp took place at KBIC’s community garden and allowed attendees to observe and participate in a wild rice processing workshop in a set of stages leading to a consumable state.  

The process of preparing the rice after harvest begins with gidasigewin, or parching, the harvested wild rice. This roasting stage is to heat the rice and attempt to bring it out of their husks. Participants would have the rice placed into large metal basins that were tilted above fire and would stir the rice with wooden tools.

The next stage is Bawishkam, which involves dancing or jigging on the rice with moccasins to gently separate the rice from the husks. Afterwards the rice is put through nooshkaachigewin, or winnowed in a birch basket while being flipped back and forth in a circular motion. This action separates even more husks from the desired edible grains, though there is also another way to achieve this step with a modern tool that was referred to as a manoominator. The machine performs the winnowing in a far faster and simpler manner, though KBIC’s Outreach Coordinator Austin Ayres suggests that the machine may not result in the best quality of rice.

“When you put your own energy into it, instead of letting a machine run and do it, you are realizing that exchange of energy with yourself, the rice, the earth, and I think its just takes a lot more patience, and that’s part of it,” he said.

After the rice has its final pickings of stay husks, it is then packaged where those who have done the preparatory work can now cook it as they desire for their meal. Wild rice has been a staple of the diet of Native Americans across this region of the country for many generations and the camp is seeking to keep the tradition of harvesting it continuing also as the story of the Anishinaabe peoples. Ayres sees the camp as a way to teach children especially traditional practices and honor those who originally migrated to these lands.

“Manoomin wild rice is tied to our migration story, which is a big part of why we’re here in in the Great Lakes region,” Ayres said. “Originally we come from the East Coast, but our story says that we were supposed to find the food on the water, so part of that was coming here and finding wild rice, the food that grows on water.”

While the harvesting of rice is essential for survival, the practice of harvesting and preparing rice are considered very spiritual actions. One of the leaders in the camp was KBOCC’s Board of Regents trustees, Donald Chosa, a lifelong ricer who recalls taking part in the practice ever since he was 11 years old. He had been working on wild rice restoration since 1994 and has been involved with multiple projects in planting wild rice in waters which include areas near Keweenaw Bay. Chosa has also worked on monitoring water qualities and has taught others how to test the water for suitable conditions for wild rice. He said that rice is one of the integral parts of KBIC’s and other tribal groups’ traditional spirituality and religion.

“[Rice] is something that’s used in all our ceremonies,” Chosa said. “It’s used for our naming ceremonies at birth, and it’s also used for the ceremonies that we have for after a person passes on. Wild rice is always a part of all of our seasonal ceremonies, so it’s used in many different ways.”

Chosa believes that it is a great honor to be able to teach ricing at the workshop. He wishes for the practice and traditions to continue, but expresses concern over rising temperatures and abnormal water levels effecting rice. He explained that wild rice needs a cool climate in order to grow efficiently.

“Climate change is effecting our rice,” Chosa said. “It’s diminishing in some of the natural beds where it’s been and we have noticed that. So, we’re worried about climate change, and what that’ll do to our historic natural rice beds.”