Minnesota State Grain: Wild Rice, or Manoomin

The shattering of manoomin heralds the end of summer and the beginning of Manoominike-Giizig, the Ricing Moon. As the wild rice shatters—releases its seed—the migrating birds flock to take advantage of the high-protein grass seeds on their journey south. More than just a dietary staple, manoomin (the Ojibwe name for Zizania palustris) or psiη (Dakota) is an intrinsic element of the cultures of the native peoples whose lifestyles revolved—and in many cases, still do revolve—around it. In honor of its cultural significance, it was adopted as the Minnesota State Grain in 1977.