“Every seed a rare and beautiful thing,” so true. Colonialism has many faces not just land theft but soil and water contamination I see. So much to learn here thank you for this interesting intermix of personal experiences, perspective, family history and education on wild rice. I didn’t know it grows in such shallow water. And eww that soggy bottom in Lake of the Woods😞. Such a thread of how the conditions creating wild rice loss impacts us all eventually it seems.
Thanks for recognizing how colonialism comes back to negatively affect all of us. Even though I prefer to think of my great-grandparents as pioneers instead of colonialists, I can't ignore the impact of changing forest into farms. Isabel Wilkerson uses a metaphor in the ending of her new film ORIGIN I think applies here. She says if you are living in a house and the roof is leaking or the basement is flooding, that you can complain all you want about who is blame but it won't fix the problem. It doesn't matter that you didn't cause the problem, it's your problem to fix. I didn't cause the flooding or the changes in land use or the pollution, but that doesn't absolve me from my responsibilities for wild rice habitat preservation and restoration. There is a crack in the foundation of our house. We can't ignore it much longer.
Another excellent article, Jill. The message is just not getting out to the public. Wild rice - the official state grain of Minnesota - is not as lovely as the ladyslipper, as enchanting as the loon, or as comforting as the blueberry muffin, those other honored symbols. Because “wild” rice is easily found in local grocery stores, people don’t realize that an ecosystem and a way of life are under attack, and that our famous lakes are being poisoned. I’m glad you’re doing this work. I hope people listen.
Thanks for this post. I never recognized the connection between the reduction of wild rice habitat and hydroelectric dams/damns! There’s an interesting, more recent example colonizing “damns” in the Upper Missouri Valley. There, post WWII dam projects inundated the fertile floodplain along the channel and forced a number of Native American communities to relocate on uplands that were much less inviting.
You're welcome! I'm glad you made that connection. "Changes in land use" sounds like such a euphemism under the lens of understanding history through real people and places.
The price is too high, but it seems no one will prioritize long term health of the land and its products over short term gain. "Every seed is a rare and precious thing." When will we learn that we can't take take take and we can't change treaties at the whim of those with the most resources who feel free to take more? This is an important piece--and it breaks my heart to know what I already knew (more vaguely). Wild rice is no longer thriving in our world other than in a few protected places. Thank you for sharing this history.
Ironic that wild rice is so healthy as is the habitat to sustain it. White Earth passed a law in 2018 declaring the inherent legal right of wild rice to exist, survive and flourish. Next time I visit, I'm bringing some wild rice for you to eat.
Oh yes. I think it is what brought about the work of the Club of Rome. . . a grand reconsideration of "Growth" and "Progress". I think often of things I was taught and now more often of things I was not taught. Cui bono? M
I learned a new Latin phrase. Cui bono? To whom does it benefit? What is the motive for a crime? How do the perpetrators benefit? My own understanding of Enlightenment I now realize wasn't all that enlightened.
This is such an education for me, the details here. And l found your statement in your comment to Heidi interesting - that you can complain about who is to blame but it won't fix the problem. It reminds me of the idea that when in interpersonal conflict with someone, it doesn't help to look for fault - but instead to ask - what is needed here?
(On the other hand, it's surely important to recognize, call out, and put a stop to exploitation when we see it happening, in any ways we can!)
the metaphor came from Isabel Wilkerson (and her book CASTE) and I like it; because it comes from a place of desire instead dwelling only on the story of trauma. What do we want to happen for wild rice now that we know the inconvenient facts of the past? Can we admit what happened was wrong and learn from mistakes? What can we do to remedy, repair or restore the relationship to this plant, this planet, each other?
So much information - thanks! As I’ve said before, some of my most cherished memories of growing up in MN feature wild rice. But, as a child I was obviously unaware of the historical or cultural importance. I’ve since educated myself on some of it, and really appreciate you helping me on that journey.
My grandparents lived on the river in Park Rapids, MN and my grandpa and I would take his old Lund boat out looking for mud turtles, which were usually hiding out along the shoreline near what he’d usually ID as wild rice plants. He was a self-taught naturalist and local historian and the best man I ever knew. And the recipe was Grandma’s chicken wild rice hotdish! I still make it whenever I can find real MN wild rice!
What great memories of your grandparents on the river. Not far from the source of the Mississippi River in Itasca. Did Grandma use cream-of-chicken soup? My favorite is cream of wild rice soup from scratch with real cream and chicken stock (chunks of ham, celery, carrots, peppers, onions, and almond slivers).
Last Summer while camping at Lake Itasca, we were surprised by all the "weeds" around the lake. When we took a tour of the lake, the captain of the tour boat said, "80% of Lake Itasca’s 18-mile shoreline is covered with wild rice. Minnesota has more than any other state in the nation." I had no idea and was astounded. Thanks, @JillSwenson, for the wild rice history lesson.
What is a "weed" to one is a flower, fruit, or fiber to someone else, eh? Remember when Euell Gibbons ate a lot of cattails? He was the outdoorsman who advocated eating healthy wild foods in the 1960s? Yeah, well, I think cattails are weeds and I'm not a fan of Grape-Nuts either. How is that for dating myself? Lake Itasca is a beautiful place to camp. Hope you get to do it again! The boundary waters area is a place you can come back to again and again.
thank you! my mother’s family had deep roots in Minnesota and wild rice was only available there/ firmly connected to our time spent there during my childhood summers
I will never cease to be overwhelmed with all the destruction on this earth as a result of the power of greed, indifference, and arrogance emanating from those in the "upper" echelons of the caste system.
and yet I grew up thinking this direction was not destruction, but growth, development, advancement....didn't you get that message from our history books and school lessons? Progress. Hydro-power. Electricity. Factories. Manufacturing. The glorification of the Industrial Revolution. It is sort of bedrock to the mentality of mid-century American consciousness. Bedrock fractured by dark crevices.
“Every seed a rare and beautiful thing,” so true. Colonialism has many faces not just land theft but soil and water contamination I see. So much to learn here thank you for this interesting intermix of personal experiences, perspective, family history and education on wild rice. I didn’t know it grows in such shallow water. And eww that soggy bottom in Lake of the Woods😞. Such a thread of how the conditions creating wild rice loss impacts us all eventually it seems.
Thanks for recognizing how colonialism comes back to negatively affect all of us. Even though I prefer to think of my great-grandparents as pioneers instead of colonialists, I can't ignore the impact of changing forest into farms. Isabel Wilkerson uses a metaphor in the ending of her new film ORIGIN I think applies here. She says if you are living in a house and the roof is leaking or the basement is flooding, that you can complain all you want about who is blame but it won't fix the problem. It doesn't matter that you didn't cause the problem, it's your problem to fix. I didn't cause the flooding or the changes in land use or the pollution, but that doesn't absolve me from my responsibilities for wild rice habitat preservation and restoration. There is a crack in the foundation of our house. We can't ignore it much longer.
What a great metaphor. Yes!
Another excellent article, Jill. The message is just not getting out to the public. Wild rice - the official state grain of Minnesota - is not as lovely as the ladyslipper, as enchanting as the loon, or as comforting as the blueberry muffin, those other honored symbols. Because “wild” rice is easily found in local grocery stores, people don’t realize that an ecosystem and a way of life are under attack, and that our famous lakes are being poisoned. I’m glad you’re doing this work. I hope people listen.
Thanks, Mary, for helping me get the message out to the public.
Thanks for this post. I never recognized the connection between the reduction of wild rice habitat and hydroelectric dams/damns! There’s an interesting, more recent example colonizing “damns” in the Upper Missouri Valley. There, post WWII dam projects inundated the fertile floodplain along the channel and forced a number of Native American communities to relocate on uplands that were much less inviting.
You're welcome! I'm glad you made that connection. "Changes in land use" sounds like such a euphemism under the lens of understanding history through real people and places.
I learned so much here, Jill. My favorite image … of course … is of you kicking as the sand turns to muskeg.
The moment when you can't decide if the water is too cold or the bottom is too yucky is a visceral memory.
The price is too high, but it seems no one will prioritize long term health of the land and its products over short term gain. "Every seed is a rare and precious thing." When will we learn that we can't take take take and we can't change treaties at the whim of those with the most resources who feel free to take more? This is an important piece--and it breaks my heart to know what I already knew (more vaguely). Wild rice is no longer thriving in our world other than in a few protected places. Thank you for sharing this history.
Ironic that wild rice is so healthy as is the habitat to sustain it. White Earth passed a law in 2018 declaring the inherent legal right of wild rice to exist, survive and flourish. Next time I visit, I'm bringing some wild rice for you to eat.
Oh yes. I think it is what brought about the work of the Club of Rome. . . a grand reconsideration of "Growth" and "Progress". I think often of things I was taught and now more often of things I was not taught. Cui bono? M
I learned a new Latin phrase. Cui bono? To whom does it benefit? What is the motive for a crime? How do the perpetrators benefit? My own understanding of Enlightenment I now realize wasn't all that enlightened.
This is such an education for me, the details here. And l found your statement in your comment to Heidi interesting - that you can complain about who is to blame but it won't fix the problem. It reminds me of the idea that when in interpersonal conflict with someone, it doesn't help to look for fault - but instead to ask - what is needed here?
(On the other hand, it's surely important to recognize, call out, and put a stop to exploitation when we see it happening, in any ways we can!)
the metaphor came from Isabel Wilkerson (and her book CASTE) and I like it; because it comes from a place of desire instead dwelling only on the story of trauma. What do we want to happen for wild rice now that we know the inconvenient facts of the past? Can we admit what happened was wrong and learn from mistakes? What can we do to remedy, repair or restore the relationship to this plant, this planet, each other?
So much information - thanks! As I’ve said before, some of my most cherished memories of growing up in MN feature wild rice. But, as a child I was obviously unaware of the historical or cultural importance. I’ve since educated myself on some of it, and really appreciate you helping me on that journey.
Thanks, Lori. What are your favorite recipes and memories of wild rice?
My grandparents lived on the river in Park Rapids, MN and my grandpa and I would take his old Lund boat out looking for mud turtles, which were usually hiding out along the shoreline near what he’d usually ID as wild rice plants. He was a self-taught naturalist and local historian and the best man I ever knew. And the recipe was Grandma’s chicken wild rice hotdish! I still make it whenever I can find real MN wild rice!
What great memories of your grandparents on the river. Not far from the source of the Mississippi River in Itasca. Did Grandma use cream-of-chicken soup? My favorite is cream of wild rice soup from scratch with real cream and chicken stock (chunks of ham, celery, carrots, peppers, onions, and almond slivers).
Another favorite recipe!
Last Summer while camping at Lake Itasca, we were surprised by all the "weeds" around the lake. When we took a tour of the lake, the captain of the tour boat said, "80% of Lake Itasca’s 18-mile shoreline is covered with wild rice. Minnesota has more than any other state in the nation." I had no idea and was astounded. Thanks, @JillSwenson, for the wild rice history lesson.
What is a "weed" to one is a flower, fruit, or fiber to someone else, eh? Remember when Euell Gibbons ate a lot of cattails? He was the outdoorsman who advocated eating healthy wild foods in the 1960s? Yeah, well, I think cattails are weeds and I'm not a fan of Grape-Nuts either. How is that for dating myself? Lake Itasca is a beautiful place to camp. Hope you get to do it again! The boundary waters area is a place you can come back to again and again.
manoomin reminds me of Manna from heaven. It was provided for the indigenous people as a way to survive.
thank you! my mother’s family had deep roots in Minnesota and wild rice was only available there/ firmly connected to our time spent there during my childhood summers
We have that in common! Thanks for reading
I will never cease to be overwhelmed with all the destruction on this earth as a result of the power of greed, indifference, and arrogance emanating from those in the "upper" echelons of the caste system.
and yet I grew up thinking this direction was not destruction, but growth, development, advancement....didn't you get that message from our history books and school lessons? Progress. Hydro-power. Electricity. Factories. Manufacturing. The glorification of the Industrial Revolution. It is sort of bedrock to the mentality of mid-century American consciousness. Bedrock fractured by dark crevices.