Bawa’iganaakoog, threshers, or knockers, are all words used to refer to the sticks used for the harvesting of wild rice. Wild rice holds extreme cultural importance to Ojibwe culture for several reasons beyond basic sustenance; not only can it be dried and stored to sustain people through the winter, but it was also seen to fulfill the prophecy that guided the Ojibwe people west to what is now their home. Ricing brings the community together and brings individuals closer to the earth and the food it provides. Today, there are six Lake Superior Chippewa Ojibwe communities in Wisconsin: Bad River, Red Cliff, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac Du Flambeau, St. Croix, and Sokaogan (Mole Lake). These bands came to settle the Lake Superior region because of a prophecy that foretold their home to be the place where food grows on water. As the Ojibwe people were pushed west by European settlement further east, they discovered such a place rich with wild rice growing on the region’s marshes and lakes, this food source served as a symbol that the Ojibwe people were to make this their home in the early 1700s.

Manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, directly translates to “good berry” or “good seed” in English as wild rice is actually an aquatic grass or grain that grows in freshwater throughout the Great Lakes Region. It is a sensitive plant that requires slow moving waters ranging from 6 inches to 4 feet deep to grow. The plants also require muddy soil, rich with organic material, and fairly stable water levels during the growing period. Lake inlets and outlets are the most common place to find wild rice as these habitats meet all of the necessary growing requirements. Wild rice is also very nutritious as it is low in fat but high in protein, vitamins, and minerals such as iron, potassium, and vitamin B.

Ricing season is especially important to the community as it brings people together and is a way to share knowledge amongst the different generations. Ricing is a long process that requires specialized tools, such as ricing sticks. These sticks are made in pairs with each one being about 3 feet long, with a maximum length of 38 inches. Sticks are unlikely to go over the maximum length because they get too heavy to use, but the state regulation of 38-inches ensures both the preservation of the plants and prevents commercial operations with larger tools or machinery. Knockers are also designed with both the rice and user in mind in every aspect. It is important that they are round and cylindrical to not only make them easy to hold onto, but to prevent any sharp edges from cutting the rice. They are made using long, straight branches, traditionally cedar, hewn by axe, then carefully shaped by knife to the desired form. Cedar is the optimal wood because it is strong yet light, which protects the wild rice from being damaged and also limits the strain on the person ricing, as they work for hours at a time. The sticks are also tapered so that the larger end is about an inch in diameter and can be easily held while the smaller end minimizes breakage of the wild rice stalks. The knowledge of how to craft these sticks is held by the elders and passed down as younger generations learn to rice.

There are several steps in order to take wild rice from harvest to an edible food, which requires a two-person team, a canoe, a long push pole, and ricing sticks. One person, called a poler, stands at the end of the canoe and uses the pole to move and steer the boat, while the other person, the knocker, uses the rice sticks to knock the rice off the ends of the plant and into the canoe. One stick is used to reach out and bend the stalk over the edge of the boat, while the other is used to gently knock the rice kernels off of the stalk where they collect in the bottom of the canoe. This is done repeatedly and forms a rhythm that is unique to each knocker.

Wild rice that falls into the water is not wasted as it will settle into the soil and seed the next year’s harvest. When the harvest is completed, the wild rice is collected and spread out on mats to dry in the sun. While drying, it is picked through to remove any stalks or pieces of the plant that may have accidentally been collected with the rice. Once mostly dry, the rice is parched in a pan over a fire to remove excess moisture and to separate the grain from the hull. Then the rice is hulled, which was traditionally done through a Rice Dance on top of the collected wild rice to both celebrate the harvest, and remove the grains from the outer hulls. From there, birch bark trays are used to toss the rice in the air repeatedly to remove the chaffs in a process called winnowing. After being harvested, dried, parched, hulled, and winnowed, the rice is ready to be stored or eaten.

Wild rice is protected and regulated by Ojibwe people and tribal nations, as well as state programs. It is still at risk though, due to pollution, paddy rice, dam construction, invasive species, oil pipelines, and climate change. The fragility of rice year-round and the infringement of people and their inventions into wild rice spaces are endangering the plant and leading to smaller harvests. Actions are being taken locally within tribes on the specific ricing lakes and on a larger scale through legal battles with larger corporations that are threatening the livelihood of the rice. The conservation of wild rice as a sacred food and the cultural practices it sustains is currently an active and ongoing issue in Wisconsin and beyond.

Written by Kyra Michalski, November 2024.

Sources

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, “Manoomin-Wild Rice: The Good Berry,” Pamphlet. https://glifwc.org/publications/pdf/Goodberry_Brochure.pdf

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, “Ricing with Tommy Sky: A Sequel to Growing Up Ojibwe,” Mazina’igan, 2007. https://glifwc.org/publications/pdf/Ricing_Supplement.pdf

Kaeding, Danielle. “Wild Rice Harvest Tradition Passed Down to Youth,” Wisconsin Life, Wisconsin Public Radio. October 9, 2019. https://wisconsinlife.org/story/wild-rice-harvest-tradition-passed-down-to-youth/

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, “Wild Rice Harvesting,” Accessed August 2024. https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/rice.html

Wisconsin PBS Education, “The Ways: Manoomin, Food that Grows on Water,” https://pbswisconsineducation.org/story/manoomin/

Moka’aangiizisiban Tribal Museum

Research for this object and it’s related stories was supported by the Moka’aangiizisiban Tribal Museum, which operates under the Mashkiiziibii Natural Resources Department, and the Bad River Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Visit their website to plan your visit!

Learn more about ricing with PBS Wisconsin!

Produced by Finn Ryan for Wisconsin Public Broadcasting.

Fred Ackley Jr. is from the Sokaogon Chippewa Community of Mole Lake. This video, produced for Wisconsin PBS education, demonstrates the ricing process and explores the importance of wild rice to the Ojibwe community.

Watch the video on the PBS Wisconsin Education site.