Earth Almanac: September/October 2007

The Ricing Moon

For thousands of years “wild rice”—an annual grass rich in proteins and carbohydrates, low in fat, and unrelated to the bland, white rice you buy at the supermarket—has sustained people and wildlife west and north of the Great Lakes. Within its natural range, no food is more important to waterfowl, and it becomes available to them when they most need it—just before migration. In Minnesota a joint project by the state Department of Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited provides for intensive water-level management on some wild rice lakes. For the Ojibway, the “ricing moon” of late August and September was cause for wild celebration. On the night before the harvest the chief offered prayers and thanks to the Great Spirit. In the morning the women bent the grain heads over canoes and beat the seeds from the stalks. Some seeds were allowed to fall into the water to maintain the rice bed for the following year. The Ojibway and others still harvest and sell wild rice, but now there is widespread commercial production of a cultivar that, while inferior in taste, can withstand the stress of mechanical harvesters. You can gather wild rice yourself in Minnesota, but first you’ll need to buy a license from the DNR.

Brilliant and Delicious

From New Brunswick to Minnesota and south to Georgia and Alabama, dry uplands blaze with the scarlet leaves and cone-shaped berry clusters of staghorn sumac. This fast-growing, weak-limbed shrub protects itself from browsing ungulates with dense hairs that cover twigs, giving them the appearance of stag antlers in velvet. The berries, which stay on the plant till spring, aren’t particularly relished by birds early in the season, but as other food sources disappear they look better and better. The Indians made a lemonade-type drink from the berries, and you can, too. But make sure they’re ripe, or the brew will be green and bitter. 1. Pour cold water over berry clusters. 2. Crush thoroughly. 3. Let sit until strength is to your liking. 4. Strain through cheesecloth. 5. Add sugar as desired.