Ricing stick explained

A ricing stick ((singular), (plural)[1]), also known as a flail, knocking stick,[2] or rice knocker, is an agricultural hand tool used for threshing wild rice.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Ricing sticks have been traditionally used by Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes region.[7] The ricing sticks are used to harvest wild-growing rice by knocking the ripened grains off of the stalks of rice. This harvesting is typically performed by canoe—as the plants grow partially submerged in shallow water—and the sticks are used to knock the rice into the canoe or a collection vessel. Any stick can be used, but ricing sticks are normally tapered, blunt sticks, sometimes with a flattened end, with a thicker end, sometimes lined in cloth, meant to be held in the hand.[8] Ricing sticks can be used two at a time, one in each hand, while a companion rows the canoe.[9]

While the tool has ancient roots, it continues to be utilized in modern society, even by non-indigenous people, and use of ricing sticks on public or tribal lands is often regulated.[10] [11] For example, in Minnesota, wild rice on public land can be harvested only using hand-operated ricing sticks which must be "round, smooth wood no longer than 30 inches and weigh no more than one pound."[12] According to the 1854 Treaty Authority Ceded Territory Code, ricing sticks must be “round, smooth cedar, no longer than 32-inch,” while in Wisconsin, they can be up to 38 inches.

References

  1. Web site: Livesay . Nora . Nichols . John D. . bawa'iganaak (na) . 2023-05-19 . The Ojibwe People's Dictionary . University of Minnesota.
  2. Web site: Bowe . Nathan . 2015-09-09 . At camp, people learn the traditional Ojibwe ways of harvesting, processing wild rice . 2023-05-19 . Detroit Lakes Tribune . en.
  3. Web site: 2022-03-28 . A River Knock Wisconsin Sea Grant . 2023-05-19 . en-US.
  4. Web site: 2023-02-15 . The future of wild rice may depend on an unlikely alliance . 2023-05-19 . Food and Environment Reporting Network . en-US.
  5. Web site: Wild Rice Harvest . 2023-05-19 . The Nature Conservancy . en-US.
  6. Web site: Pember . Mary Annette . September 30, 2020 . ‘Manoomin will carry you through’: The healing power of the annual wild rice harvest transcends the pandemic . May 19, 2023 . Indian Country Today.
  7. Web site: Traditional Harvesting and Finishing . 2023-05-19 . www.1854treatyauthority.org.
  8. Web site: When Everybody Called Me Gabe-bines, "Forever-Flying-Bird": Teachings from Paul Buffalo . 2023-05-19 . www.d.umn.edu.
  9. Web site: Milgroom . Jessica . Wild Rice and the Ojibwe . 2023-05-19 . MNopedia . Minnesota Historical Society.
  10. Web site: 2014-08-24 . A hard day of ricing makes the beer go down easy . 2023-05-19 . MPR News . en.
  11. Web site: Press . Aaron Ogg The Grand Rapids . 2010-09-12 . Campers pay homage to American Indian tradition of gathering wild rice . 2023-05-19 . mlive . en.
  12. Web site: Wild Rice Regulations . 2023-05-19 . Minnesota Department of Natural Resources . en.

External links

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