Mazaan uses
These oral history interviews, conducted by Marvin Lamppa, Gerald Pete, and Tracey Dagen, were commissioned by the Bois Forte Heritage Center. Those interviewed discuss various aspects of the history of and life on the Bois Forte Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. Additional copies of the transcripts are housed at the Bois Forte Heritage Center, Tower, MN, and the Iron Range Research Center, Chisholm, MN.
So anyway, he would come and check uh, where the mazaan went and us, see if there was any rice in there. If there was a lot of rice fell in there, he would have us re-fan those again to make sure we didn't spill rice while we were fanning. Took a lot of time before he would let us fan somewhere else. And then, I think, too that he would want to save that mazaan. They used to use that like uh, kind of like for insulation. And then they'd put it around things that they didn't want freezing. Or on top of something kind of like the sawdust.
from
Phyllis Strong Boshey, Oral History Interviews of the Vermilion Lake Bois Forte Oral History Project. Minnesota Historical Society, 1996-1997, written transcript 14.