Wild Rice Info
WILD RICE
Fall 2008: The Canadian wild rice harvest was quite successful this year and we're now shipping this organic wild rice in bulk and retail.
North Bay Organic Wild Rice - You can be sure that all of our Canadian Organic Wild Rice is harvested in the pristine wilderness and is of the highest quality available. Our wild, natural rice from northern Canada is 100 percent certified organic. Visit our slideshow under "Company & Pics" for a visual insight into the long standing Canadian wild rice business. Click on wild rice lakes (pdf) for a map on where wild rice is harvested.
Thousand Lakes Food Company Minnesota Grown Wild Rice - This is our popular brand of Minnesota grown wild rice for both retail and wholesale trade. It has a shorter grain than the Canadian wild rice.
ABOUT CANADIAN WILD RICE - There’s only one place on Earth that consistently produces truly wild, naturally-grown rice with a grain of half an inch or more in length, and that place is along the glacially-scoured rocks at the edge of the pre-Cambrian shield, in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Wild rice from this area grows in harmony with nature without efforts to tame naturally occurring fluctuations in lake water levels.
No one knows why this particular part of Canada’s vast, untrammeled wilderness lake country produces such exquisite rice. Perhaps it’s because the water is some of the world’s purest. Maybe the ancient, mineral-rich bedrock provides just the right nourishment for a thriving rice crop. Or the northern latitude which can produce long days of sunlight. Most likely, it’s a combination of these and other natural phenomena.
North Bay Trading Canadian organic Wild Rice is easily distinguished from the shorter-grained rice grown commercially in California and Minnesota. Please note all of our natural wild rice is sold for consumption. We do not have "green" wild rice for seeding private lakes.
OJIBWAY WILD RICE TRADITIONS - Harvesting, winnowing, and the First Rice Feast
Wild rice was essential to survival of the first peoples who occupied North America’s central woodland lakes region thousands of years ago. In an area of poor soils and short growing seasons, wild rice kept famine from taking its toll, especially during the region’s long, harsh winters.
An early Ojibway name for wild rice was Manitou gi ti gahn, which means the plant the Great Spirit gave us. That name has now been shortened to manoomin (derived from min, meaning seed and Minido, the name for the providing spirit).
Traditionally, during late August and early September, Ojibway people gathered for the harvest in family groups along the shores of wild rice lakes. It was a time of camaraderie, hard work, and offerings of thanks to the spirit givers.
Harvesting was by birch bark canoe. Sticks were used to bend and tap the wild rice plants, making ripe hulls fall into the canoe.
On shore, fresh wild rice was spread on mats, to dry in the sun. Some was put over a fire to dry quickly for the First Rice Feast or Migwetch Manoomin. (Migwetch is the Ojibway word used to give thanks.)
After the wild fire-dried rice was cooled, it was jostled against wooden slates, to loosen the chaff. Next, it was put in small pits lined with wood or clay. Then, men treaded on the wild rice using light, dance-like steps to separate the chaff. Final winnowing was done by women, who used birch baskets to toss and catch the rice. While in the air, the chaff blew away.
When there was enough clean wild rice, it was time to cook the First Rice Feast. The meal typically consisted of boiled and popped wild rice, fresh fish and fowl, and berries that had been picked and dried during the summer.
Ceremonial servings were made for the spirits and left thoughtfully at attractive resting places in the nearby woods.
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