JENKS] WINNOWING AND STORING 1071 
(plate Lxxtx 4), which is about 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 7 or 8 
inches deep. They then grasp both ends of the tray, and by a very 
simple yet clever movement gradually empty the chaff. The tray is 
lifted several inches and carried slightly outward. This upward and 
outward movement is checked quite suddenly, and the tray, while 
being drawn toward the body of the laborer, is let down again. The 
light chaff is thus spilled over the outer edge when the tray is at its 
highest point and just as it is suddenly jerked toward the laborer. 
However, because of the rapidity with which this shaking is done, 
the movements appear neither sudden nor jerky, and the chaff falls 
almost constantly (see plate Lxxvir /). 
Among the Menomini, *‘on a windy day, by means of a birch-bark 
tray, the rice is cleaned. . . . Sometimes the rice and hulls are 
separated by spreading on a mat and fanning with a bark tray.”" The 
Sandy lake Indians in 1820 cleaned their rice with ‘ta fan made of 
birch bark, shaped something like those used by farmers. This is the 
most expeditious way of cleaning it.”” 
The only implements used in winnowing are birch-bark fans, blankets 
and birch-bark trays (which are spread upon the ground to catch the 
grain).° 
STORING 
While the American farmer locks his granary that its contents may 
be safe, the Indian hides his harvest for safety. In fact, the common 
term by which the Indian granary is now known throughout the North- 
west is the French term cache, or hiding place. It is a part of an 
Indian’s code of morals not to steal from his friends, but it is equally 
a virtue to steal from an enemy. Inasmuch as tribes ordinarily 
habitually steal from one another, the fall harvest of wild rice must 
be kept in a place of safety. Its hiding was formerly much more 
necessary than at present, for before the time of settled homes the 
families broke up the harvest camp immediately after completing 
their labors, and repaired to their fall festivities or hunting-grounds. 
As will be seen later, there was both a subjective and an objective 
reason why the Indians did not store away larger quantities of wild 
rice. One 1eason was that they would not gather large quantities of 
the grain, and the other reason was that the crop so often failed 
that at times they could not harvest abundantly. However, now and 
then the instinct of frugality was strong enough to assert. itself. 
Atwater said that the Winnebago women contrived to save, by hiding, 
some of their food in time of abundance. They often buried rice and 

1 Hoffman, op. cit., p. 291. 
2Edward Tanner, op. cit., December 8, 1820; see also Seymour, op. cit., pp. 185, 184; Kinzie, op. cit., 
p.67; Jones, op. cit., pp. 259, 260; Gheen, letter, November 15, 1898. 
8The appearance of the grain after winnowing is shown in plate LXXVII. 
