When harvesting in wild rice beds, the paddle is not the tool of choice to navigate a canoe in the shallow waters, as it is not effective and is even destructive to the fragile lake bottom and rice roots. Rather, a push pole, at least 10-12 feet in length is preferable. In this intensive one day course, students will craft a traditional wild ricing push pole. Students will use a drawknife to peel bark from a long, straight, small diameter spruce, balsam or cedar tree and skillfully fit on a hardwood fork end by scarfing, mortising, pegging and lashing with split spruce roots. The ancient design of the push pole is critical for the successful harvest of wild rice.