FIRST WE SHOULD CONSIDER MANOOMIN (WILD RICE): EXAMINING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS USING COLLABORATIVE METHODS

Manoomin (Ojibwe/ Anishinaabe), or northern wild rice (Zizania palustris), is an annual aquatic plant that grows across the Great Lakes region. It has medicinal, spiritual, and dietary significance to the sovereign Tribes of the region, but its abundance has been declining despite its legal protection under treaties. While some factors (environmental and societal) have been demonstrated to impact wild rice health and growth, there is no single answer to explain this broad regional loss. Continued research beyond disciplinary-focused silos is needed to protect manoomin for all people who value it. Ongoing work between researchers at the University of Minnesota and Tribal partners - including natural resource stewards, Tribal leaders, elders, rice chiefs, and community members - has yielded a multi-dimensional approach that seeks to capture the various forces influencing manoomin. In this conceptual framework, watershed changes, sediments, nutrient concentrations, contaminant levels, hydrologic parameters, and competitive vegetation are assessed to examine their impact on the growth of manoomin while maintaining a genuine collaboration with project partners and treating manoomin with the utmost respect. This collaborative emphasis has been an integral part of the methods, and as well, a significant result in and of itself. Trust and commitment with partners has enabled this work to go much farther than previously envisioned and has led to more robust and holistic scientific inquiry. One site in particular, on the Lac du Flambeau reservation in northern Wisconsin, has provided this project with a unique setting to compare two subsites within the same river system, one with abundant manoomin and the other with impaired coverage. Utilizing our multi-dimensional approach, the emerging data and observations suggest sediment processes and feedbacks contribute to wild rice ecosystem quality and quantity. Nevertheless, the threats to manoomin vary across the region, and the continued interactions of humans on these aquatic systems is clear above all. The ongoing relationships developed through this project are not only a substantial component of the methods but are also the emerging solution to holistic scientific inquiry and socio-environmental community health.