Chapter 6: Cass Lake and the Ricers

This 1905 postcard shows traditional wild rice harvesting.

“It was here that we saw the Indians, even at this early period of the year, gathering their wild rice harvest. Several canoes were at work (men and women) in a flooded marsh. The men cut off the green heads of the river plant and let them fall into the canoe, while women stowed them away. Great was the merriment.” (- John J. Bigsby, early 1800s, near the Canadian border with the boundary commission.) 

Mike and I thought the rice beds were a nuisance - they were hard to paddle through and forced us to make detours out into the middle of  Cass Lake.

To the Indians, the rice beds were a source of wealth. The Chippewa Indians living on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation think the beds are a gift from God. Wars have been fought and treaties signed to guarantee the right to harvest the wild rice. Today, wild rice is still important to the Indian people.
To read the rest of the chapter, click on wild ricers.