How to Hand Parch Wild Rice the Traditional Way
by Jamie Littlewolf
The wild rice harvest
generally begins in the fall, and originates with the Ojibwe
tribe.
Wild rice or "manoomin" as it is
called in Ojibwe, grows naturally in lakes in long and tall stalks.
The process of harvesting wild rice the traditional way is done outdoors,
when two people go to the rice beds in a canoe and one person stands
in back
using a push pole to push through the rice. The other person
sits in the front of the canoe and uses two knocking sticks to knock
the rice into the canoe.After the rice is gathered, it is put into
sacks to be taken home.Once it is taken home, it is laid on a tarp
to dry and ready to be hand parched.
Step 1 Getting Started
1 or 2 people need to
start the fire, while1 or 2 other people stay at a tarp gathering
wild rice into the large bucket for the first
batch. During this process, it is important to take out the weeds.
Step 2 Over the Fire
The
parchers or people at the fire; take the rice and place it in the
large metal
kettle.
Stir it around with the 2 paddles in a consistent
motion; each person taking a turn until all the moisture is out of
the rice and it starts to pop.
Step 3 Cooked Rice Cool
Down
Place the parched rice on
the other tarp to cool and remove any leftover weeds. After the rice
has cooled, it is ready to be finished. The finishing process is
usually referred to as the "winnowing" process
by the Ojibwe. Basically, the rice gets thrashed and this step helps
get the jackets off of the rice.
Step 4 Jigging the Rice
Put the rice in
a wide barrel, and have one person walk on the cooked
rice.This step is usually
referred to "jigging" by the Ojibwe because it looks
as though one is dancing on the rice.
Step 5 Winnowing the Rice
Put the rice into
a birch bark tray or cake pan, and move it in an up and down motion
and have
a basket below so that the rice
will fall into it. This step separates the removed jackets and
gets most leftover jackets off.
Step 6 Bagging it for Storage
Bag the finished rice, and
it is now ready to store for when you want to cook it.
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Items
Needed
- 2 Large tarps
- 1 Large bucket
- Firewood
- Matches to start fire
- 1 Large metal kettle
- 2 Wooden paddles
(boat/canoe paddles work well)
- 1 Wide barrel
- 1 or 2 Birchbark
trays or cake pans will work too
- 1 or 2 Baskets
- At least 6
large storage sacks, depending on the amount of rice you have
Helpful Tips Before Starting
- The
more people you have helping out, the faster it will all go.
Traditionally, Ojibwe families
would partake in
the hand parching process; each person having their own job.
- Make time
for this whole process. It is very time consuming and depending
on
the amount of rice you have; sometimes it takes as little
as 3 and as much as 10 or more batches to finish.
- When filling
the kettle (step 2) and the barrel (step 4) with rice don't over
fill; but
fill about half way full. The more shallow the rice,
the less jackets will remain on the rice.
Info Before Cooking
Just remember
before you cook it, you will have to do another cleaning of the
rice because
there will be rice jackets here and there that didn't get winnowed.
After the jackets are removed, rinse the rice to get any dirt or
grit washed away and it is now ready for cooking!
Relevant
Ojibwe Words and Pronunciations
- Manoomin
(mah-no-min): wild rice
- Manoominike-giizis (mah-no-min-ikay gee-zis): month of August
that translates to "the rice making moon"
- Jiimaan (jee-mahn): canoe
- Zaagaa'igan (zah-gah-i-gun): lake
- Baasaan (bah-sahn): drying, parching, winnowing
Related Links
Minnesota
Wild Rice Harvesting Regulations
Ojibwe People and Wild
Rice Wild
Rice Cooking: History,Natural History, Harvesting and Lore
Wild
Rice Recipes and Cooking Instructions
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