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Joe Owen

How to Harvest Manoomin (Wild Rice) 

March 11, 2024


The late Joe Owen of Pauingassi First Nation often reminisced about harvesting, traveling and listening to stories from his dad. Below, Joe describes the process of harvesting manoomin (wild rice).

Identify Harvest Time

The wild rice plant needs to be above the surface of the water, with the branch extended, and pockets for the kernels formed. Once this occurs, it takes about 10 days for the heads to fill out. At that point, the kernels are ripe and need to be harvested. If this narrow time window is missed, rain or wind will cause the kernels to fall back into the lake.

Pankissinon
(Better pick them quickly before they fall)

Kwiipit (Joe’s Dad) often used this word
Manoomin looks like floating grass before it grows up and out of the water.
Photos: Ōtake Hidehiro


Drying Manoomin (Wild Rice)

Once the kernels are harvested, they are placed in a tall metal pail angled against the heat of the fire to heat and dry them. It is imperative that they be thoroughly dried for two reasons. First, the husking process follows the drying period and the husks won’t detach from the kernel if the kernels aren’t entirely dry. The heat needs to remove moisture and result in temperatures that cause the husk to burn, but not the rice. The second reason for needing high levels of dryness is to preserve the wild rice.  Heating of the kernel is needed to prepare for storage.

In the pot, a paddle is used to continuously stir the rice for 10-15 minutes if the quantity of wild rice is 3-4 pounds. This process is repeated over and over again during the initial drying/stirring process if greater volumes are being dried.

Ahkihkan okii apichii’an (They used a pail)
Piiwapihk ahkihk (A metal pail)
Oki wanaweyaanan ima ahkihkwonk
(It was stirred in the pail)
Apwi oki aapachii’an (A paddle was used)

Separating Husks and Kernels

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

Once the drying is done, the rice is placed on a canvas in a shallow pit in the ground. Joe’s Dad would step into the pit wearing moccasins. He would stand on the rice and stir it in an agitator fashion, with his feet moving side to side, while holding a branch or stick to maintain his balance. The agitating action would separate the dry/burned husks from the rice kernels.   

Once the husks and kernels were separated, Joe’s dad would lift out the canvas and throw the kernels up and down, allowing the wind to blow away the husks.

Ahkihkwaabpihk  kii siikinaan oteshpiwepinaanan, wepash ikiweniwak (husks)
Kii pahkwachihsewak (they fall off)

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

Pimachiowin Aki is grateful to Joe for sharing his knowledge and Gerald Neufeld for recording Joe’s words.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Food, Harvesting, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Plants, Uncategorised, Wild Rice Tagged With: harvesting, Joe Owen, Pauingassi First Nation, Wild Rice

Remembering Joe Owen

September 18, 2023

By Gerald Neufeld

Joe Owen of Pauingassi First Nation

“The most qualified wildlife hunter in the boreal forest region. People are concerned that nobody will carry on or replace such skills.”

-In September 2010 Joe Owen wrote this caption for his photograph, featured above

Storyteller

As a youth Joe would walk for miles with his Dad to the family trapline at Lewis Lake. Joe recently described how his Dad would wake him and his brother Winston early on a winter morning to walk the distance back to Pauingassi on snowshoes. It was a long day of walking. Joe recalled his legs were short when he was young, and keeping up with Dad was difficult. Joe laughed as he described the experience of being tired and just wanting more sleep, as any youth does. He recently told me he how appreciative he was of his Dad for pushing him to develop a work ethic.

Knowledge Keeper

Joe Owen says, “It is very important that we keep the land as it is. The water is still good. The trees are good. The plants are good. We want to keep it that way so the animals can stay healthy.” Click ‘play’ to watch the full video.

In other conversations, Joe became nostalgic when talking about cultural practices of times past. He would reminisce about picking wild rice and how his Dad processed it, going to the family trapline, and hunting with his Dad. Joe was particularly proud of his ability to hunt big game (he certainly developed this skill from his father who was an exceptional hunter!). With a big smile on his face Joe would announce emphatically that he was the BEST hunter and in support of his proclamation, and pull out a newspaper clip in which Joe himself was the headline in support of his announcement!

Then and Now with Joe Owen

Family Man

Joe consistently spoke fondly of his children and enjoyed spending time with them.

Joe enjoyed talking about earlier days where he’d travel to Pikangikum to visit relatives. He would travel with his Grandmother Ehshinminchimowiye and cousin Shortie. They’d stay with relatives. He describes this as being his Grandmother’s way of introducing him to a world larger than Pauingassi.

Listener

In conversation, Joe listened with intent. It would be a rare conversation in which Joe wouldn’t engage. He had a unique perspective in his understandings. When Joe offered ideas or posed questions, they were well thought out and usually came from a different vantage point than expected. He enjoyed discussing, debating, and learning, and he presented a well-articulated presence. 

Leader

Joe was a proud member of the Board of Directors of Pimachiowin Aki.

Joe Owen representing Pimachiowin Aki at the National Trust Conference in Winnipeg, 2019

Joe had leadership experience in various areas of responsibility including past experience as Chief of Pauingassi and more recently the Manager of Land Use Planning for Pauingassi. In his role of Land Use Planner, Joe participated in active negotiations with the UNESCO World Heritage Site application, which originally included the Whitefeather Forest Area of North-west Ontario. Through these experiences, Joe understood how to deliver communication, negotiate, and develop work processes necessary to interface Pauingassi with Government and other organizations. His work experience served Joe well on the Board of Directors for Pimachiowin Aki and permitted him to actively participate during meetings.   

Joe will be sadly missed.  

Joe Owen at a Pauingassi Land Management Planning Open House

Filed Under: Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised Tagged With: Joe Owen, Pauingassi First Nation

Joe Owen – 10 Family Photos

September 18, 2023

By Gerald Neufeld

1. Joe With His Parents (above)

Joe Owen with his parents at their home in Pauingassi. Mother Annette (Kakaak) (daughter of Sarah Crow and Joseph Crow Sr.) and father Judas Owen (Kwiipit) (son of Moses Owen and Alice Keeper). Photo: H. Neufeld, August 1970

2. Joe With His Dad, Brother and Sister

Joe Owen in centre with his dad Judas (Kwiipit). Brother Winston (Kihtaans) on left, sister Mary Ann (Winchiko) on right. Photo: H. Neufeld

3. Joe With His Parents and Brother Visiting Henry Neufeld

Joe Owen in centre and front of dad Judas (Kwiipit). Mom Annette to right. Brother Winston (Kihtaans) on right peeking out from behind his mother. Henry Neufeld on left. Visit is taking place at the start of the portage to Little Grand Rapids’ Hudson Bay Company store, at the top of the big rapids, Little Grand Rapids. Photo: H. Neufeld, mid 1960s

Photo taken on the same day as above. Joe Owen in background between his mother Annette and brother Winston. Dad Judas portaging canoe to a point of launching below the rapids to continue the shopping excursion to the Hudson Bay Company Store at Little Grand Rapids (prior to store at Pauingassi). Photo: H. Neufeld

4. Joe’s Dad as a Big Game Hunter

Joe Owen learned to hunt well. His father (right) shot a moose across the lake at Pauingassi. On left is Alex Pascal (Kihchiish) along with his two sons. Photo: Edwin Friesen, October 1955

5. Joe in School

Joe Owen marked by yellow circle on class photo taken in log classroom. Photo: R. Enns, 1966 or 1967

6. Joe’s Maternal Grandmother  

Joe Owen’s maternal grandmother Sarah Crow (Ehshinminchimowiye) at Pauingassi. Photo: M. Wiebe, mid 1960s

7. Joe’s Maternal Grandfather

Joe Owen’s maternal grandfather Joseph Crow, Sr. (A’aasi) in Pikangikum, sitting on left with first wife who passed in the early 1930s (Joseph Crow, Sr. married Ehshinminchimowiye in 1935). Photo: A.I. Hallowell, 1930s

8. Joe’s Great Grandfather

Joe Owen’s great grandfather Shawtail Owen (Kihchi Ahkakochiish) at Pauingassi. Kneeling is son John George Owen (Meme), a younger brother to Joe’s maternal grandmother Sarah Crow (Ehshinminchimowiye). Photo: H. Neufeld, late 1950s

9. Joe’s Great-Great Grandfather   

Joe Owen’s great-great grandfather Arthur Leveque sitting on left. He was the Councillor for Little Grand Rapids. Shawtail Owen (previous photo) was the son-in-law of Arthur Leveque. Photo taken at Little Grand Rapids during canoe delivery of Treaty monies and gifts during summer. Photo: A.V. Thomas, Hudson Bay Company Archive, June 3, 1910

10. Joe’s Paternal Grandparents

Joe Owen’s paternal grandfather Moses Owen (Miskwaatesiwishkiinshik) and grandmother Alice Keeper (Kihchi Mohkomaan) at Pauingassi. Photo: A.I. Hallowell, 1930s


Learn about Gerald Neufeld’s quest to trace the ancestry of community members in Pimachiowin Aki.

Filed Under: Geneaology, Uncategorised Tagged With: Joe Owen, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation

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