NORTHERN WISCONSIN — The Intertribal Winnebago Wild Rice Revitalization Project partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019 to initiate wild rice restoration in Lake Winnebago. This collaboration aims to restore wild rice populations which Indigenous peoples have harvested for thousands of years in the upper Midwest.
Wild rice populations in the upper Midwest have declined due to land use changes and climate change. Bazile Minogiizhigaabo Panek, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, co-authored research concluding that removing competing vegetation and lowering water levels during specific growing periods can slow wild rice decline. Warmer winters that reduce ice coverage and wetter summers that increase water levels are conditions that researchers identified as stressors for wild rice.
The University of Minnesota has researched wild rice genetics since the 1950s to develop shatter-resistant varieties for mechanical harvesting. Mining operations and agricultural practices have introduced pollutants into wild rice habitats. Motorboat wakes can also physically uproot wild rice plants during vulnerable growth stages. Government agencies previously constructed river dams in the upper Midwest to regulate water levels and facilitate timber transport.
Jessie Conaway, an Indigenous arts and sciences research coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discussed the project's vision. Conaway stated, "We envision that we would continue to locate habitats that traditionally and historically sustain rice and that can again, and then take and equip community members with the skills and equipment needed to harvest and process that rice." Conaway said, "This leads to food sovereignty, cultural revitalization, nutrition, the building blocks of communities."
Madeline Nyblade, faculty co-director of the State University of New York Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, said, "There is a ... amount of restoration going on across the region, led by tribes, nonprofits, intertribal organizations, government, state governments, and that is what gives me hope."