376 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940 



day enough food to satisfy its hunger, this creature at dusk crawled 

 in among the vegetation covering this low land to sleep off the 

 lethargy that accompanies a full meal. While it slept, the dew ac- 

 cumulated upon its body. At sunrise it awoke and shook the moisture 

 from its back and in it wriggled toward the larger lake, leaving be- 

 hind a chain of small lakes that now are expansions of the river that 

 became the waterway to the great Northwest. In his account of 

 ascending this river in 1673, Marquette says, "The way is so cut up 

 by marshes and little lakes (pi. 8, fig. 1) that it is easy to go astray, 

 especially as the river is so covered with wild oats [Zizania aquaticd] 

 that you can hardly discover the channel. Hence, we had good need 

 of our two guides." 



In many places throughout this region such conditions exist today, 

 in normal seasons, from the middle of June until the first of October. 

 When the waters are free of ice, usually about the middle of May, 

 Zizania seed begins to germinate. Most of it was sown by nature 

 early in autumn of the preceding year and some of it through accident 

 by the Indians themselves in spite of their skill in harvesting tlie 

 crop. 



The seedlings grow very slowly at first, too weak to stand erect 

 without the support of the water, which not only surrounds but covers 

 them, often deeply. During this early growth, with their narrow 

 leaves floating and reaching uj^ward and outward, the plants appear, 

 when seen from a canoe floating over an old Zizania bed, like so many 

 hydrae seeking their prey. In less than a month the young plants 

 push their leaves to the water surface, spreading them upon it in long 

 streamers, which at a distance upon good light conditions give the 

 lake the appearance of having a low verdant island. In approaching 

 small beds of this plant, the emerging leaves could be taken, even at a 

 short distance, for a thick growth of duckweeds. In this stage of 

 growth, the plants are greatly exposed to wave action. By it they 

 may be detached from the soil and brought to the surface of lake or 

 stream, leaving only open water where a few days before the young 

 plants give the area the appearance of a green field. Entire stands 

 covering a hundred acres or more are often destroyed in this way. 

 When water and weather conditions are favorable, the plants are 

 strong enough in July to push their stems upward. A few weeks later 

 the flower clusters begin to emerge. The stems are stronger now and 

 have become more erect. Continuous sunshine and a mild tempera- 

 ture ripen the seed in about 3 weeks. 



Among the Indians about this time the topic of conversation is 

 "ricing," a word coined by the white man and used only in reference 

 to harvesting this grain. The urge to assemble at their favorite lakes 

 begins now to grow upon these people. They drift in singly and in 



