Wild Rice

In his essay “Wild Rice Glut Leaves Bitter Taste” (Sept. 16) Bob Secter clearly outlines the tragic demise in Indian participation in an “industry” which has attempted to usurp for profit what for the Chippewa has been their principal staple for centuries. In my book (“Wild Rice and the Ojibway People,” Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988) I trace the role of wild rice in the Indian economy, showing how the fur trade could never have been sustained had not Indians been induced to overproduction of rice as a trade item, enabling trading posts to survive the winters.

One insidious practice of the paddy growers Secter fails to mention is “dumping” their surplus rice for sale at $1.60 a pound from roadside vans and gas stations near Indian reservations. The average tourists, oblivious to the distinction between the natural, hand-processed lake rice sold by Indians and the chemically-treated “artificial” paddy rice will opt for the cheaper variety, having seen the $6 per pound asked for (and well-deserved) on the reservation.

A solution to the present glut in the market and protection of Indian interests might be for the federal government to subsidize the production of paddy rice in return for banning its sales domestically. Even paddy rice is a far richer food than white rice and could be exported to feed Third World countries. In my travels to Mexico and Haiti, I always bring wild rice to friends, who quickly developed a fondness for its flavorful taste.

THOMAS VENNUM JR.

Washington, D.C.