Jim Northrup "mahnomin"

On the surface this poem is about rice and harvesting rice. The Native Americans harvested rice from the water on boat, and in this poem the speaker talks about how harvesting rice was a communal activity. It was something relatives came together to do, and this resulted in story telling, and gossiping, and basic interaction among the harvesters. This story telling and remembering of the old ways connects the new generation of harvesters with their ancestors that harvested the rice in the area before them. The speaker ends the poem by saying "...carrying a canoe load of food and centuries of memories." This shows how valuable the speaker holds these memories of his ancestors that were shared with him on the water. Harvesting rice is a way for people of this Native American culture to connect with their ancestors and learn about the old ways of their culture, and it is through this tradition of harvesting and story telling that they can keep their culture alive.