Ricing

Ricing was harvested from August to the beginning of September. A woman and a man would set out in a canoe, with the woman facing the rear. The man would "propel" the canoe using a sapling approximately ten feet long, depending on where they are gathering the rice. While the man would propel them through the rice stalks, the woman would use a cedar stick, about three feet long would pull the rice stalks in towards the boat, and with using a shorter stick would knock the rice stalks of their ripened grains into the canoe.

Once the canoe was filled with rice, they would return to shore where the rice was transferred into birch bark containers to be carried back to their house.

From there, the rice needed to be sorted from debris, by spreading it out on blankets of birch bark, fabric blankets, or canvas so the sun could dry the rice. Once that stage was completed, several containers of rice would be put into a large iron kettle where it would be parched over an open fire. It would have to be constantly stirred with a wooden paddle, else the rice would burn. The rice was burned to remove the outer husk from the rice grains. For the final completion of the outer husks to be removed, a man would put on moccasins that would have a higher ankle cuff so the rice wouldn't enter into his shoes. He would then step into a pit lined with skin, stamping his feet down on the rice.

The final step to preparing rice from the outer husk, a woman would put some rice into a large tray, and toss the rice into the air. The wind would then catch the outer husk and leave the inner grain of rice to fall back into the tray.