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NATIVE HARVEST wild rice is hand harvested from the indigenous lakes of the Anishinabe from the first certified organic lakes in Minnesota. Wild rice is harvested each fall by the Anishinabeg people. It's a long process that brings families onto the lakes in canoes where the rice is poled and gently brushed with rice knockers (bawaiganaak) into the bed of the canoe. The grain rice is spread to dry and then parched in large metal drums with paddles that slowly rotate on a shaft to keep it from burning. The rice stays in the parcher two to four hours, depending on the dryness of the rice, its ripeness, the air temperature and humidity. Distinctive differences exist in the grain, flavor, hardness and color of rice from one lake to the next.
NATIVE HARVEST lake rice is unique from "paddy," or commercialized, rice. Our rice is a highly textured, uneven grain that is medium brown in color and has a nutty smell to it. Commercial rice produces a long, consistent, black grain, which is harvested by machines. Manoomin is an indigenous food, which is an integral part of the bio-diversity of the western hemisphere.
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