wild rice Drawing of people harvesting wild rice Wild rice can be recovered from light fraction flotation samples.  Wild rice was a popular food with late prehistoric peoples across northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, including the La Crosse region. Harvested by canoe, it provided an excellent source of food, especially in places where corn agriculture was not feasible. The grains have a distinctive groove down the middle that allows archaeologists to identify even charred fragments. (left – Oneota, La Crosse County; right – modern) (drawing by Meg Rivers)