The Indians in Wisconsin's History

by John M. Douglass

Autumn, the time for harvesting garden crops as well as various wild vegetable foods, is a season of hard work for all. Corn is the most important garden crop, and from time to time we have sampled the ripe grain. The women have served us some roasted on the cob, or the fresh kernels ground with a wooden mortar and pestle and served as a sort of porridge. The ripe corn is now gathered and the ears will be allowed to dry. The dried kernels can then be ground into a meal, as needed, since the dry corn will remain edible for a long time.

Wild rice is the most important vegetable food provided for the Indians by nature. One day, in the middle of September, we all go a short distance up the river in our canoes and enter a small lake. Here the wild grain grows in great quantities. The men selected by the chief to determine when the rice is ready to be gathered have already given us the signal that the grain is ripe. We learn, however, that one more function is required before we can proceed with the harvesting of the rice.

The chief medicine man of our village approaches the edge of the water and blows tobacco smoke towards the heavens as an offering to his “Grandfather,” the “Master of the Rice.” He then buries a small portion of tobacco in the ground, and we are ready to proceed.

In each canoe, as the man poles the boat slowly through the rice, the woman, who sits facing the man, pulls the stalks over the canoe with one cedar stick, while with another stick she beats the ripe grain into the boat. When the canoes are full, we head back for camp where the rice is spread out to dry.

Then the women heat the unhusked kernels in a pot over a slow fire until all have partially popped open. Next a small pit is dug and a stake set into the ground beside it. The depression is lined with buckskin and filled with the parched grain. The father then takes hold of the stake, steps into the grain-filled pit, and begins treading the grain with his feet to loosen the husks from the kernels.

The women take the grain from the pit and toss it up and down in bark winnowing trays. The wind blows away the light chaff as the grain is tossed into the air, and allows only the kernels to fall back into the tray.

The time soon arrives for our friends to break camp and seek a winter campsite where the hunting is known to be good. Hunting and fishing will be the main source of food during the winter season.

At the new campsite, storage pits lined with birch bark are dug in the ground to be used for storing the nuts, dried berries, dried corn, and rice that have been gathered and prepared during the Autumn. If hunting is poor, or if a severe winter threatens famine to the village, this stored food may be the sole means of preventing starvation.

It is now time for us to leave our Indian friends, but before we go we learn that the winter season will be spent not only in the pursuits of fishing through the ice and hunting, but also, in the telling of stories, singing, and playing many different games. When the snows are deep, the tribe will don snowshoes for their hunting trips. We will miss seeing them play snowsnake. In this game the Indians compete with each other to see who can hurl the wooden “snake” the greatest distance across the snow or ice. We are sorry to miss all these things, but the time has come for us to end our visit.

As we say farewell to our friends from the distant past, we reflect regretfully that the coming of the white man will change the old ways of life for these people of the forests, and soon their independence and freedom will vanish forever. The Indians seem destined to become largely dependent upon the whites for their livelihood, and even for the few remnants of land to be left them for their homes.