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{{short description|Genus of plants}}
{{Redirect|Zizania|the tender which served in the US Lighthouse Service and Navy|USLHT Zizania}}
{{About||wild rice closely related to cultivated forms|Rice|the wild rice species of India and Bangladesh|Porteresia}}
{{Hatnote|"Indian rice" redirects here. The wildflower ''[[Fritillaria camschatcensis]]'' is sometimes also called "Indian rice" or "wild rice".}}
{{Other uses}}
{{automatic taxobox
| name = Wild rice
| image = Zizania palustris (20150198216).jpg
| image_caption = ''Zizania palustris''
| image_alt = Beneath a cloudy sky, tall green-stemmed plants with beige-pink seeds atop them stand, bending to the viewer's left.
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Zizania
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = * ''[[Zizania aquatica]]'' <small>L.</small>
** ''Zizania aquatica var. aquatica''
** ''Zizania aquatica var. brevis'' <small>[[Norman C. Fassett|Fassett]]</small>
* ''[[Zizania latifolia]]'' <small>([[August Grisebach|Griseb.]]) [[Nicolai Stepanovitch Turczaninow|Turcz.]] ex [[Otto Stapf (botanist)|Stapf]]</small>
* ''[[Zizania palustris]]'' <small>L.</small>
** ''[[Zizania palustris var. interior]]'' <small>(Fassett) Dore</small>
** ''[[Zizania palustris var. palustris]]''
* ''[[Zizania texana]]'' <small>[[A. S. Hitchcock|Hitchc.]]</small>
| synonyms = *''Ceratochaete'' <small>Lunell</small>
*''Elymus'' <small>Mitch.</small>
*''Fartis'' <small>Adans.</small>
*''Hydropyrum'' <small>Link</small>
*''Melinum'' <small>Link</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30001114-2#synonyms |title=Zizania L. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=7 July 2020 |archive-date=7 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707124136/http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30001114-2#synonyms |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''Wild rice''', also called '''manoomin''', '''mnomen''', '''psíŋ''', '''Canada rice''', '''Indian rice''', or '''water oats''', is any of four species of [[Poaceae|grasses]] that form the genus '''''Zizania''''', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically and is still gathered and eaten in [[North America]] and, to a lesser extent, [[China]],<ref name="Food in China" /> where the plant's stem is used as a vegetable.

Wild rice and domesticated [[rice]] (''[[Oryza sativa]]'' and ''[[Oryza glaberrima]]''), are in the same botanical [[tribe (biology)|tribe]] [[Oryzeae]].<ref name=Kellogg>{{cite journal |last=Kellogg |first=Elizabeth A. |title=The Evolutionary History of Ehrhartoideae, Oryzeae, and ''Oryza'' |journal=Rice |date=30 January 2009 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1007/s12284-009-9022-2 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009Rice....2....1K }}</ref> Wild-rice grains have a chewy outer sheath with a tender inner grain that has a slightly vegetal taste.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Type of Rice is Healthiest? |last=Reinagel |first=Monica |url=http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/what-type-of-rice-is-healthiest.aspx |date=19 April 1010 |access-date=28 January 2010 |archive-date=8 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708173659/http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/what-type-of-rice-is-healthiest.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

The plants grow in shallow water in small [[lake]]s and slow-flowing [[stream]]s; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water. The grain is eaten by [[dabbling duck]]s and other aquatic wildlife.

== Species ==
Three species of wild rice are native to North America:
* '''Northern wild rice''' (''Zizania palustris'') is an [[annual plant]] native to the [[Great Lakes (North America)|Great Lakes]] region of [[North America]], the aquatic areas of the [[Boreal forest of Canada|Boreal Forest]] regions of [[Northern Ontario]], [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Manitoba]] in [[Canada]] and [[Minnesota]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Michigan]] and [[Idaho]] in the [[US]].
* '''Southern or annual wild rice''' (''Z. aquatica''), also an annual, grows in the [[Saint Lawrence River]], the state of [[Florida]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants |title=Zizania Aquatica |url=https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/zizania-aquatica/ |website=University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences |access-date=28 May 2017 |archive-date=22 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622060113/http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/zizania-aquatica/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf]] coasts of the United States.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.shootgardening.com/plants/zizania-aquatica | title=Zizania aquatica (Annual wild rice)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/zizania/aquatica/ |title=Zizania aquatica (Annual wild rice) | website=gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org | access-date=2024-08-18}}</ref>
* '''Texas wild rice''' (''[[Zizania texana|Z. texana]]'') is a [[perennial plant]] found only in a small area along the [[San Marcos River]] in central [[Texas]].
One species is native to [[Asia]]:
* '''Manchurian wild rice''' (''[[Zizania latifolia|Z. latifolia]]''; incorrect synonym: ''Z. caduciflora'') is a perennial native to China.

Texas wild rice is in danger of [[extinction]] due to [[pollution]] and [[habitat loss|loss of suitable habitat]] in its limited range. The pollen of Texas wild rice can only travel about 30&nbsp;inches away from a parent plant. If a receptive female flower receives no pollen, no seeds are produced.<ref>[http://newswise.com/articles/view/542638/ Pollination Habits of Endangered Rice Revealed to Help Preservation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213456/http://newswise.com/articles/view/542638/ |date=2016-03-03 }} Newswise, Retrieved on July 15, 2008.</ref> [[Manchuria]]n wild rice has almost disappeared from the wild in its native range, but has been accidentally introduced into the wild in [[New Zealand]] and is considered an [[invasive species]] there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.niwa.co.nz/news-and-publications/publications/all/abb/2003-05/invader |title=Stopping the freshwater wild rice invader |access-date=2009-11-13 |archive-date=2020-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425231914/http://www.niwa.co.nz/news-and-publications/publications/all/abb/2003-05/invader |url-status=live }}</ref>

The genomes of northern and Manchurian wild rices have been sequenced. There appears to be a whole-genome duplication after the genus split from ''Oryza''.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.15419 |doi=10.1111/tpj.15419 |title=Whole-genome assembly and annotation of northern wild rice, Zizania palustris L., supports a whole-genome duplication in the Zizania genus |year=2021 |last1=Haas |first1=Matthew |last2=Kono |first2=Thomas |last3=MacChietto |first3=Marissa |last4=Millas |first4=Reneth |last5=McGilp |first5=Lillian |last6=Shao |first6=Mingqin |last7=Duquette |first7=Jacques |last8=Qiu |first8=Yinjie |last9=Hirsch |first9=Candice N. | last10=Kimball | first10=Jennifer |journal=The Plant Journal |volume=107 |issue=6 |pages=1802–1818 |pmid=34310794 |s2cid=236451706 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Culinary use==
[[File:Wild rice harvesting 19th century.jpg|thumb|left|A 19th century illustration of Native Americans harvesting wild rice]]

The species most commonly harvested as [[cereal|grain]] are the annual species: ''Zizania palustris'' and ''Zizania aquatica.'' The former, though now domesticated and grown commercially, is still often gathered from lakes in the traditional manner, especially by indigenous peoples in North America; the latter was also used extensively in the past.<ref name="auto">Moerman, Daniel, ''Native American Ethnobotany'' (Timber Press, Portland Oregon 1998), p. 614.</ref> The stems and root shoots also contain an edible portion on the interior.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |pages=121 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364 }}</ref>

=== Use by Native Americans ===
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and others harvest wild rice by [[canoe]]ing into a stand of plants, and bending the ripe grain heads with two small wooden poles/sticks called "knockers" or "flails", so as to [[threshing|thresh]] the seeds into the canoe.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |title=MNOMEN [WILD RICE] |url=https://www.potawatomiheritage.com/encyclopedia/wild-rice/ |website=Citizen Potowatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center }}</ref>

One person vans (or "knocks") rice into the canoe while the other paddles slowly or uses a push pole. The plants are not beaten with the knockers, but require only a gentle brushing to dislodge the mature grain. Some seeds fall to the muddy bottom and [[germinate]] later in the year. The size of the knockers, as well as other details, are prescribed in state and tribal law. By Minnesota statute, knockers must be at most {{convert|1|in|cm|abbr=on}} diameter, {{convert|30|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} long, and {{convert|1|lb|g|abbr=on}} weight.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=84.111 |title=84.111 – 2015 Minnesota Statutes |access-date=2008-08-28 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053123/https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=84.111 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Ojibwa cedarbark bag rice ANHM.jpg|thumb|left|Ojibwa pouch for holding wild rice, cedar bark, [[American Museum of Natural History]]]]

Several Native American cultures, such as the Ojibwe, consider wild rice to be a sacred component of their culture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/22_gundersond_wildrice-m/ |title=MPR: Wild rice at the center of a cultural dispute. |author=Minnesota Public Radio |date=22 September 2002 |access-date=28 November 2005 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123013932/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/22_gundersond_wildrice-m/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Ojibwe]] people call this plant {{lang|oj|ᒪᓅᒥᓐ}} {{Lang|oj-latn|manoomin}}, meaning {{Gloss|harvesting berry}} (commonly translated {{Gloss|good berry}}). In 2018, the [[White Earth Nation]] of Ojibwe granted {{Lang|oj-latn|manoomin}} certain rights (sometimes compared to [[rights of nature]] or to granting it [[legal personhood]]), including the right to exist and flourish; in August 2021, the Ojibwe filed a lawsuit on behalf of wild rice to stop the [[Line 3 pipeline|Enbridge Line 3 oil sands pipeline]], which puts the plant's habitat at risk.<ref>Kirsti Marohn, ''[https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/08/05/line-3-white-earth-argues-dnr-water-permit-violates-wild-rice-rights Line 3: White Earth argues DNR water permit violates wild rice rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123013933/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/08/05/line-3-white-earth-argues-dnr-water-permit-violates-wild-rice-rights |date=2022-01-23 }}'', August 5, 2021, [[MPR News]]</ref><ref>Jessica Douglas, ''[https://www.hcn.org/articles/latest-justice-wild-rice-sues-to-stop-oil-pipeline Wild rice sues to stop oil pipeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123013941/https://www.hcn.org/articles/latest-justice-wild-rice-sues-to-stop-oil-pipeline |date=2022-01-23 }}'', September 2, 2021, ''High Country News''</ref>

Tribes that are recorded as historically harvesting ''Zizania aquatica'' are the Dakota, Menominee, Meskwaki, Ojibwe, Cree, Omaha, Ponca, Thompson, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago). Native people who utilized ''Zizania palustris'' are the Ojibwe, Ottawa/Odawa and Potawatomi. Ways of preparing it varied from stewing the grains with [[venison]] stock and/or maple syrup, making it into stuffings for wild birds, or even steaming it into sweets like puffed rice, or rice pudding sweetened with maple syrup.<ref name="auto" /> For these groups, the harvest of wild rice is an important cultural (and often economic) event. The [[Menominee|''Omǣqnomenēwak'']] tribe take their name, and the name {{Lang|oj-latn|Omanoominii}} that the neighboring Ojibwa use for them, from this plant. Many places in [[Illinois]], [[Indiana]], Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, [[Ontario]], Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin are named after this plant, including [[Mahnomen, Minnesota]], and [[Menomonie, Wisconsin]]; many lakes and streams bear the name "Rice", "Wildrice", "Wild Rice", or "Zizania".{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

=== Commercialisation ===
{{missing information|section|shattering phenotype|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Processed wild rice at Wild Rice House in Finland, Minnesota (51432379817).jpg|thumb|Processed wild rice]]
Because of its nutritional value and taste, wild rice increased in popularity in the late 20th century, and commercial cultivation began in the U.S. and [[Canada]] to supply the increased demand. In 1950, James and Gerald Godward started experimenting with wild rice in a one-acre meadow north of [[Brainerd, Minnesota]]. They constructed dikes around the acre, dug ditches for drainage, and put in water controls. In the fall, they tilled the soil. Then, in the spring of 1951, they acquired {{convert|50|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of seed from Wildlife Nurseries Inc. They scattered the seed onto the soil, diked it in, and flooded the paddy. Much to their surprise, since they were told wild rice needs flowing water to grow well, the seeds sprouted and produced a crop. They continued to experiment with wild rice throughout the early 1950s and were the first to officially cultivate the previously wild crop.<ref>Oelke, Ervin. ''Saga of the Grain''. <!--publisher & place?-->2007. pp.29-33.</ref>

In the United States, the main producers are [[California]] and [[Minnesota]] (where it is the official [[List of Minnesota state symbols|state grain]]), and it is mainly cultivated in [[paddy field]]s. In Canada, it is usually harvested from natural bodies of water; the largest producer is [[Saskatchewan]]. Wild rice is also produced in [[Hungary]] and [[Australia]]. In Hungary, cultivation started in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.indianrizs.hu/en/company |title=Company |website=Indián Rizs |access-date=2025-02-03 |archive-date=2025-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250203130134/https://www.indianrizs.hu/en/company |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Manchurian wild rice ===
Manchurian wild rice ({{zh|c=菰|p=gū}}), gathered from the wild, was once an important grain in ancient China.<ref name="Food in China">{{Cite book |last=Simoons |first=Frederick J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fo087ZxohA4C&q=manchurian%20wild%20rice%20china&pg=PA165 |title=Food in China: a cultural and historical inquiry |publisher=CRC Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8493-8804-0 |pages=165, 559 |access-date=2020-10-08 |archive-date=2021-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204035214/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fo087ZxohA4C&q=manchurian%20wild%20rice%20china&pg=PA165 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is now very rare in the wild, and its use as a grain has completely disappeared in China, though it continues to be cultivated for its stems.<ref name="Food in China" />

[[File:wild rice stems.jpg|thumb|left|Wild rice stems before and after peeling]]
The swollen crisp white stems of Manchurian wild rice are grown as a [[vegetable]], popular in [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]]. The swelling occurs because of infection with the [[smut (fungus)|smut fungus]] ''[[Ustilago esculenta]]''.<ref name="Food in China" /> The fungus prevents the plant from flowering, so the crop is [[plant propagation|propagated]] asexually, the infection being passed from mother plant to daughter plant. [[Harvest]] must be made between about 120 days and 170 days after planting, after the stem begins to swell, but before the infection reaches its reproductive stage, when the stem will begin to turn black and eventually disintegrate into fungal spores.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The vegetable is especially common in China, where it is known as '''{{Lang|zh-latn|gāosǔn}}''' ({{Lang|zh|高筍}}) or '''{{Lang|zh-latn|jiāobái}}''' ({{Lang|zh|茭白}}). In Japan it is known as '''{{Lang|ja-latn|makomodake}}''' ({{Lang|ja|マコモダケ}}). Other names which may be used in English include '''''coba''''' and '''water bamboo'''. Importation of the vegetable to the United States is prohibited in order to protect North American species from the [[smut (fungus)|smut fungus]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

=== Nutrition ===
{{nutritional value | name=Wild rice, cooked
| kJ=423
| protein=3.99 g
| fat=0.34 g
| carbs=21.34 g
| fiber=1.8 g
| calcium_mg=3
| iron_mg=0.6
| magnesium_mg=32
| phosphorus_mg=82
| potassium_mg=101
| sodium_mg=3
| zinc_mg=1.34
| manganese_mg=0.282
| vitC_mg=0
| thiamin_mg=0.052
| riboflavin_mg=0.087
| niacin_mg=1.287
| vitB6_mg=0.135
| vitE_mg=0.24
| folate_ug=26
| lutein_ug=64
| copper_mg= 0.121
| source_usda = 1
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168897/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]
}}
[[File:wildricecooked.jpg|thumb|left|Cooked wild rice]]

Wild rice is relatively high in [[protein]], the [[amino acid]] [[lysine]] and [[dietary fiber]], and low in [[fat]]. Nutritional analysis shows wild rice to be the grain second only to [[oats]] in protein content per 100 calories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://voices.yahoo.com/wild-rice-protein-rich-grain-almost-nobody-12143888.html?cat=4 |title=Wild Rice: The Protein-Rich Grain that Almost Nobody Knows About! |access-date=2013-06-07 |first=Michael |last=Lustgarten |date=2013-05-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805035555/http://voices.yahoo.com/wild-rice-protein-rich-grain-almost-nobody-12143888.html?cat=4 |archive-date=2013-08-05 }}</ref> Like true rice, it does not contain [[gluten]]. It is also a good source of certain minerals and B vitamins. One cup of cooked wild rice provides 5% or more of the daily value of [[thiamin]], [[riboflavin]], [[iron#Nutrition|iron]], and [[potassium#Nutrition|potassium]]; 10% or more of the daily value of [[Niacin (substance)|niacin]], [[vitamin B6|vitamin B<sub>6</sub>]], [[folate]], [[magnesium#Nutrition|magnesium]], [[phosphorus#Nutrition|phosphorus]]; 15% of [[zinc#Nutrition|zinc]]; and over 20% of [[manganese#Nutrition|manganese]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5752/2 |title=Nutrition Facts: Wild Rice, cooked |access-date=2013-06-07 |date=2013-06-07 |archive-date=2022-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123014308/https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5752/2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Safety ===
Wild rice seeds can be infected by the highly toxic fungus [[ergot]], which is dangerous if eaten. Infected grains have pink or purplish blotches or growths of the fungus, from the size of a seed to several times larger.<ref>Peterson, Lee, ''A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America'' (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York City<!--year?-->), p. 228.</ref>

== Archaeology of Minnesota wild rice ==

===Food source===
Anthropologists since the early 1900s have focused on wild rice as a food source, often with an emphasis on the harvesting of the aquatic plant in the Lake Superior region by the [[Anishinaabe]] people, also known as the Chippewa, Ojibwa and Ojibwe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Densmore |first1=Frances |title=Chippewa Child Life |date=1929 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. |location=Washington D.C. |page=128 }}</ref> The Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology published ''The Wild Rice Gatherers in the Upper Great Lakes: A Study in American Primitive Economics'' by Albert Ernest Jenks in 1901. In addition to his fieldwork interviewing members of various tribal communities, Jenks examined the accounts of explorers, fur traders and government agents from the early 1600s to the late 1800s to detail an "aboriginal economic activity which is absolutely unique, and in which no article is employed not of aboriginal conception and workmanship".<ref name="Jenks">{{cite book |last1=Jenks |first1=Albert Ernest |title=The Wild Rice Gatherers of the Upper Great Lakes: A Study in Primitive Economics. |url=https://archive.org/details/wildricegatherer00jenkuoft/mode/2up |date=1901 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution. |location=Washington, D.C. }}</ref>{{Rp|1019}} His study further notes wild rice's importance in the fur-trading era because the region would have been nearly inaccessible if not for the availability of wild rice and the ability to store it for long periods of time.<ref name="Jenks" />{{Rp|1019}} Wild rice's social and economic importance has continued into present times for the Anishinaabe and other north woods tribal members despite the availability of more easily obtainable food sources.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vennum Jr. |first1=Thomas |title=Wild Rice and the Ojibway People. |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=1988 |location=St. Paul, MN |pages=58–80 }}</ref>

===Processing by various cultures===
[[File:Paul Buffalo and wife parching wild rice at their camp - NARA - 285212.tif|thumb|Vintage photo entitled, "Paul Buffalo and wife parching wild rice at their camp" - 1934]]

The continued use of wild rice from ancient to modern times has provided opportunities to examine the plant's processing by various cultures through the archaeological record they left behind during their occupation of seasonal ricing camps. Early ethnographic reports, tribal accounts and historical writings also inform archaeological research in the human use of wild rice. For example, geographer and ethnologist [[Henry Schoolcraft]] in the mid-1800s wrote about depressions in the ground on the shore of a lake with wild rice growing in the water. He wrote that wild rice processors placed animal hides in the holes, filled them with rice and stomped on the rice to thresh it.<ref name="Jenks" />{{Rp|1067}} These jigging pits are part of the husking needed to process wild rice, and archaeologists see these holes in the soil stratigraphy in archaeological excavations today. Such historical records from the post-contact period in the Lake Superior region focus on Anishinaabe harvesting and processing techniques. Archaeological investigations of wild rice processing from the American era, before and after the creation of federal Indian reservations, also provide information on the loss of traditional harvesting areas, as 1800s fur trader and Indian interpreter Benjamin G. Armstrong wrote about outsiders "who claimed to have acquired title to all the swamps and overflowed lakes on the reservations, depriving the Indians of their rice fields, cranberry marshes and hay meadows".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Benjamin G. |title=Early Life Among the Indians |publisher=A.W. Bowron |year=1892 |location=Ashland, Wisc. |pages=81 }}</ref>

Despite the close association of the Anishinaabe and wild rice today, indigenous use of this food for subsistence also predates their arrival in the Lake Superior region. The Anishinaabe today were part of a larger Algonquian group who left eastern North America on a centuries-long journey to the west along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes. The [[Seven fires prophecy|Anishinaabe migration story]] details a vision to follow a giant clam shell in the sky to a place where the food grows on the water. This journey ended between the late 1400s and early 1600s in the Lake Superior wild rice country when they encountered the plant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warren |first1=William W. |title=History of the Ojibway People |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=1994 |isbn= |location=St. Paul, MN |pages=76–95 |orig-year=1885 }}</ref>

===Prehistory===

Archaeological and other scientific investigations have focused on the prehistoric exploitation of wild rice by humans, including: 1) the Anishinaabe, 2) so-called proto-Anishinaabe who may have later transformed into this culture from an earlier form, 3) other indigenous groups who exist today such as the Sioux people, and 4) archaeological-categorized cultures from the Initial and Terminal Woodland periods whose living lineages today are more difficult to identify. A seminal 1969 archaeological study indicated the prehistoric nature of indigenous wild rice harvesting and processing through radiocarbon dating, putting to rest argument made by some European-Americans that wild rice production did not begin until post-contact times. Researchers tested clay linings of thermal features and jigging pits associated with parching and threshing of the plant.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Eldon |title=Archeological Evidence for Utilization of Wild Rice |journal=Science |date=1969 |volume=163 |issue=3864 |pages=276–277 |doi=10.1126/science.163.3864.276 |pmid=17790255 |bibcode=1969Sci...163..276J |s2cid=26628330 }}</ref>

But a more precise dating of the antiquity of human use of wild rice and the appearance of the plant itself in lakes and streams have been the subjects of continuing academic debates. These disputes may be framed around these questions: When did wild rice first appear in various areas of the region? When was it plentiful enough to be harvested in quantities to be a significant food source? What is the relationship of wild rice to the introduction of pottery and to increases in indigenous populations in the past 2,000 years? "The use of wild rice by and its influence on prehistoric people in northeast Minnesota has led to much argument among archaeologists and paleoecologists".<ref name="University of Minnesota">{{cite book |last1=Huber |first1=James Kenneth |title=Palynological Investigations related to Archaeological Sites and the Expansion of Wild Rice (Zizania aquatic L.) in Northeast Minnesota. Dissertation |date=2001 |publisher=University of Minnesota |location=Twin Cities }}</ref>{{Rp|2}}

As an example, archaeologists divide human occupation of northeast Minnesota into numerous time periods. They are: the Paleo-Indian period from 7,000 years ago (5000 BCE) extending back to an uncertain time after the glaciers receded from the last Ice Age; the Archaic period from 2,500 to 7,000 years ago (5000–500 BCE); the Initial Woodland period from 2,500 to 1,300 years ago (500 BCE–700 CE); the Terminal Woodland period from 1,300 to 400 years ago (700–1600 CE); and the historical period after that time.<ref name="University of Minnesota" />{{Rp|34–52}} These rough dates are open to debate and vary by location in the state.
In general, two lines of inquiry have focused on archaeological wild rice: 1) The radiocarbon dating of charred wild rice seeds or the associated charcoal left behind during the parching stage of rice production, and 2) Examination of preserved wild rice seeds associated with specific prehistoric pottery styles found in excavations of processing sites. Different pottery styles in northern Minnesota are linked to certain times in the Initial and Terminal Woodland periods stretching from around 500 BCE to the time of contact between indigenous peoples and Europeans. To place this in context, "Although ceramics may have appeared as early as 2,000 BCE in the southeastern United States, it is about 1,500 years later that they became evident in the Midwest".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anfinson |first1=Scott F. |title=Handbook of Minnesota Prehistoric Ceramics. Occasional Publications in Minnesota Anthropology. |publisher=Minnesota Archaeological Society |year=1979 |location=Sr. Paul, MN |pages= }}</ref> After European contact, indigenous wild rice processors generally abandoned ceramic vessels in favor of metal kettles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hilger |first1=M. Inez |title=Chippewa Child Life and its Cultural Background. |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=1992 |location=St. Paul, MN |pages=148 |orig-year=1951 }}</ref>

===Woodland period===
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2021}}
The Initial Woodland period in northeast Minnesota marks the beginning of the use of pottery and burial mound building in the archaeological record. The Initial Woodland also experienced an increase in indigenous population. One hypothesis is that wild rice as a food source was related to these three developments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Valppu |first1=Seppo H. |title=Paleoethnobotany of Big Rice Site, St. Louis County, Minnesota: Early Wild Rice (Zizania Aquatica L.) in Archaeological Context. Master's thesis. |publisher=University of Minnesota |year=1989 |isbn= |location=Twin Cities |pages=1 }}</ref>
An example of a northeast Minnesota wild rice location, the Big Rice site in the Superior National Forest, considered a classic Initial and Terminal Woodland period type site, illustrates the methods of archaeological investigations into the plant's use by humans through time. Archaeological techniques along with ethnographic records and tribal oral testimony, when taken together, suggest use of this particular lakeside site since 50 BCE.

On its own, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of wild rice seeds and charcoal samples from the Big Rice itself indicated indigenous use of this site dating to 2,050 years ago.
Furthermore, all excavation levels that solely contained ceramics only used during the Initial Woodland period (known as Laurel pottery complex) also included wild rice seeds. This indicated the use of wild rice during the Initial Woodland period, according to the study.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Valppu |first1=Seppo H. |title=Paleoethnobotanical Context and Dating of the Laurel Use of Wild Rice: The Big Rice Site. |last2=Rapp |first2=George (Rip) |publisher=The Minnesota Archaeologist |year=2000 |location=Minneapolis |pages=86 }}</ref>

Excavators have documented more than 50,000 pottery shards from the site from the Initial and Terminal Woodland periods. Specifically, researchers analyzed ceramic rimsherds of Laurel pottery from the Initial Woodland period and Blackduck, Sandy Lake and Selkirk pottery styles from the Terminal Woodland period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shafer |first1=Jennifer Renee |title=A Seriation of Ceramics from the Big Rice Site (21SL163, FSNO. 09-09-09-034). St. Louis County, Minnesota. M.A. thesis. |publisher=University of Minnesota |year=2003 |pages=ii, 1 }}</ref> Each pottery type had wild rice seeds associated with it in the soil layers of archaeological deposits. These soil layers were not contaminated with pottery from other eras.

This suggests intensive exploitation of the site for wild rice processing through these time periods by different cultures. For example, archaeologists often associate Sandy Lake pottery with the Sioux people, who were later displaced by the Anishinaabe and possibly other Algonquian migrants. Archaeologists often associate Selkirk pottery with the Cree people, an Algonquian group.

An examination of the pollen sequence at Big Rice indicates that wild rice existed in "harvestable quantities" 3,600 years ago during the Archaic period. This date is 1,600 years before the AMS radiocarbon date of human-processed charred wild rice seeds at the site during the Initial Woodland period, although there is no archaeological evidence of human use of the wild rice at the site that far back in time as of yet.<ref name="University of Minnesota" />{{Rp|1–2}}

== See also ==
*[[Camargue red rice]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Zizania}}
* [https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=ZIPA3 USDA Plants Profile for Zizania palustris]
* [https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=ZIAQ USDA Plants Profile for Zizania aquatica]
* [https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=ZITE USDA Plants Profile for Zizania texana]
<!--
* [https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/V2-235.html Wild Rice: Domestication of A North American Genus by Ervin A. Oalke], Proceedings of the Second National Symposium, Purdue University
* [http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Zizania.html Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/V1-387.html Asian Vegetables]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Zizania_aquatica.html Zizania aquatica]
* Jenks, Albert Ernest (1901). [https://archive.org/details/wildricegatherer00jenkuoft The wild rice gatherers of the Upper Lakes: a study in American primitive economics.] -->

{{Cereals}}
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[[Category:Rice varieties]]
[[Category:Oryzoideae|Zizania]]
[[Category:Grasses of Canada|Zizania]]
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[[Category:Cereals]]
[[Category:Rice]]
[[Category:Stem vegetables]]
[[Category:Crops originating from Pre-Columbian North America]]
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