1094 WILD RICE GATHERERS OF UPPER LAKES (ETH. ANN. 19 
of the Menomini), made his home with his grandmother, Noko’mis. 
One day the old woman told him that he ought to prove himself a 
manly fellow; he ought to take a long journey through unknown 
forests: he ought to go without food and get accustomed to the hard- 
ships of life. So Wenibojo’ told her that he was going away, that he 
was going to fast; and taking his bow and arrows he wandered out 
into the forest. Many days he wandered, and finally came to a beauti- 
ful lake full of wild rice, the first ever seen. But he did not know 
that the grain was good to eat; he liked it for its beauty. He went into 
the forest and got the bark from a large pine tree. From this bark 
he made a canoe with which to gather the grain. After the canoe was 
made, he went to Noko/mis, and they both came and gathered the rice, 
and sowed it in another lake. He then left Noko’mis by this lake of 
sowed wild rice, and, taking his bow and arrows, started away again 
into the forest. As he wandered along some little bushes spoke to him 
and said: ‘*Sometimes they eat us.” Wenibojo’ at first paid no atten- 
tion to the address, but finally he said: ‘* Who are you talking to/” 
On being told that he was the one addressed, he stooped down and dug 
up the plant. He found a long root, as long as an arrow. It tasted 
very good to him, so he dug and ate a great many of the roots. He 
ate so many that he became sick, and lay there three days too ill to 
move. When finally he got up, he wandered on. He became very faint 
and hungry; other plants spoke to him, but he was afraid to eat them. 
At last he was passing along the river, and saw little bunches of straw 
growing up in the water. They spoke to him and said: ** Wenibojo’, 
sometimes they eat us.” So he picked some of it and ate it, and said: 
“Oh, but you are good! What do they call you?” ‘* They call us 
mano’min [wild rice],” the grass answered. Wenibojo’ waded out into 
the water up to his breast and beat off the grain, and ate and ate, 
but this time he was not sick. Finally he remembered the wild rice 
which he and old Noko’mis had sown, so he returned home to his 
mano’min lake. 
The other tale of the origin of wild rice is taken from a series of 
experiences of Wenibojo’. One evening he returned from hunting, 
but he had no game. As he came toward his fire he saw a duck sit- 
ting on the edge of his kettle of boiling water. After the duck flew 
away Wenibojo’ looked into the kettle and found wild rice floating 
upon the water, but he did not know what it was. He ate his supper 
from the kettle, and it was the best soup that he had ever tasted. So 
he followed in the direction which the duck had taken, and came toa 
lake full of mano’min. He saw all kinds of duck, and geese, and mud 
hens, and all other water birds eating the grain. After that, when 
Wenibojo’ did not kill a deer, he knew where to find food to eat. 
It is acommon belief on the Lac Courte Oreille reservation that 
the Ojibwa Indians first found wild rice on the Red river of the North, 
