The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering
Follow a young Ojibwe boy through the process of harvesting and preparing wild rice for the very first time.
Themes: nature, tradition, Mnoomin gathering
About the Author
Gordon Regguinti was a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. He had a Bachelor’s degree in Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota. He worked as editor of the Native news publication The Circle, as well as executive director of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). Regguinti was dedicated to helping Native stories be told.
Discussion Questions
Glen is very excited to start learning to rice with his father. What are some important traditions in your family that your parents have taught you?
Lots of food these days is bought in grocery stores, but Glen and his family harvest their own wild rice. Have you ever harvested your own food? What kind?
The wild rice helps to feed Glen’s family and lots of people around Leech Lake. What are some of the most important foods to your family?
The wild rice harvest brings together many Ojibwe people in a harvesting community every year. What events or activities bring together your community?
The Sacred Harvest explains the historical and spiritual significance of wild rice to the Ojibwe people. How does the story show that wild ricing has changed or stayed the same since it first began?
Learning Activities
Find out where you can buy wild rice from Ojibwe sellers and try to make a meal with it. While you eat it, think about how wild rice is important both culturally and practically to the Ojibwe (not to mention delicious!)
Go somewhere you can harvest your own food, like a family or community garden, an apple orchard, or a berry-picking patch, and consider how gathering your own food directly from where it grows feels different than buying it in the store. Do you feel more connected to what you are eating?
The Sacred Harvest describes how the sale of commercial, paddy-grown rice harms traditional Ojibwe wild rice harvesters. Find foods that you can buy locally, instead of from large companies, to support your community.
Explore More
Follow the story of Fred Ackley Jr. [Zaka'aaganing (Mole Lake/Sokaogon)] as he harvests and processes manoomin.
Read The Story of Manoomin (2013) from the Fond du Lac Head Start program, with photography by Diane Robinson.
Read Real Wild Rice (1975) by David Martinson, a short story poem about a young boy going for rice.
Check out Foods of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions (2004) by Fernando and Marlene Divina for more insight into the diversity of foods, ingredients, and recipes indigenous to the Americas.
Read Food is Medicine: Recovering Traditional Foods to Heal the People (2005) by Winona LaDuke and Sarah Alexander to learn about natural nutrition and traditional agriculture.
Explore the Bimaadiziwin Nibi / Water is Life story map to learn more about Indigenous approaches to taking care of our water.