History & Cultural Significance

​Manoomin, meaning “good berry”, is the traditional name for the sacred wild rice that has been a cultural and dietary staple among the Menominee and Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe/Chippewa, Odawa/Ottawa, Potawatomi, & Cree) Tribes throughout the Great Lakes Region for centuries and is part of the Anishinaabeg migration story - to the place where the food grows on the water.

Manoomin is the only native grain of North America. It grows best in shallow, slow-moving waters and is highly sensitive to environmental changes such as fluctuations in water depth and temperature. Many wildlife and fish species utilize manoomin for food, and as nursery and migratory habitats.

Traditional manoomin territories have been greatly diminished due to land development, recreational use of habitats, decreased water quality from agricultural & industrial run-off, and increases in invasive species. Today's biggest threat to remaining wild rice stands is our rapidly changing climate and weather patterns.

With an ancient and sacred spirit, manoomin is a life source whose loss would severely impact the traditions, environmental and human health, and economies of Indigenous communities.

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Precipitation

The greatest climate change threats to manoomin are higher humidity levels and fluctuations in water depths beyond the plant's critical thresholds. Water depth is critical for all growth stages of manoomin and has significantly increased throughout the region. Between 2013 and 2014, Lake Superior rose by 2 feet, and Lake Michigan and Lake Huron by 3.3 feet. The Great Lakes are expected to only show small water level reductions of up to 6 inches.

Periods of prolonged high water levels prevent seed germination, and spring flooding uproots young plants during their "floating leaf stage." Observations of plants following flood events have shown decreases in stem length and diameter, and reductions in floret numbers. Flooding can also reduce water quality due to agricultural runoff, increase brown spot fungus, weaken plant stems and reduce plant height.

Regional Impacts of Climate Change:

The following information has been retrieved from the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan, and Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad: A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu.

Floating leaf stage

Competition in a Changing Environment

Shifts in temperature and precipitation caused by climate change have created ideal conditions for invasive species to spread across the Great Lakes Region. Invasive species impacting Manoomin habitats and growth stages include fungal disease, rice worms, purple loosestrife, cattails, carp and migratory waterfowl. 

CANADIAN GEESE & PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE

RICE WORM MOTH

Tribal Resilience & Conservation Efforts

Little Traverse Bay Community Harvest 2016

Each harvest season, Indigenous ricing communities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan host educational wild rice camps that attract Native and non-native community members of all ages, as well as local university students and researchers. The camps are created in partnership with organizations such as the Native Wild Rice Coalition, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. 

Camp volunteers have the opportunity to learn from Tribal knowledge keepers about their ancient ricing traditions and symbiotic relationship they share with manoomin. Cultural revitalization, restoration practices, and environmental ethics are also taught during the camps. While attending wild rice camps, researchers have focused their studies on fungal smut infections among manoomin, germination and viability, water chemistry, seed variation, and population genetics. 

Community-wide cooperation among Native Americans and non-Natives, as well as partnerships between tribal, local, and government agencies is detrimental to achieve and maintain manoomin restoration and climate change adaptation strategies. 

To increase the effectiveness of restoration efforts, government agencies and other organizations are learning about Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from Indigenous elders and community leaders throughout the Great Lakes region. By combining TEK with scientific knowledge, researchers and tribes can create intergenerational community outreach opportunities and increase public involvement, as well as work together to develop wild rice management programs.

Other Partnerships & Restoration Projects

For nearly three decades, biologists with the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) have worked closely with Tribal communities to conduct manoomin seedling efforts across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In early 2018, GLIFWC released a manoomin seedling report in the hopes that individuals and communities wishing to pursue seedling projects study and gain a better understanding of appropriate approaches to growing wild rice.

Other great resources to stay informed are your local Departments of Natural Resources (DNR). A press release issued by Wisconsin’s DNR encourages recreational boaters, fishers, and waterfowl hunters to use precautionary measures while navigating waters with wild rice beds. Both the Wisconsin and Minnesota DNR websites provide harvesting regulations and restrictions, as well as dates and times in which residents may harvest manoomin. 

Learn More

Learn more by visiting this StoryMap created by Piper Gallivan.

In the News

MANOOMIN: THE TAMING OF WILD RICE IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION (2015).