Wild rice harvest season runs through mid-September in northern Wisconsin, and while many tribal and nontribal people are enjoying their annual pilgrimages to their favorite rice wetlands, others are concerned about the effects of climate change on this unique crop.
With its rich, nutty and complex flavor, the wild rice that grows in Wisconsin and Minnesota is one of a kind.
"It isn't found anywhere else in the world," said Peter David, a biologist with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. "We have to be global stewards of this food."
Wild rice, known by its Ojibwe name as manoomin, is an important part of Ojibwe culture.
"I can't really overstate how centered manoomin is to Ojibwe identity," David said.
David and other wild rice experts are worried about the effect of climate change on wild rice.
"Manoomin is a plant adapted to harsh northern environments, and nearly every prediction of change brings negative impacts to wild rice," he said. "We are already seeing failures of infrastructure on some human-made flowages that support rice with whole beds being uprooted after heavy rainfall events, which caused increased levels of disease outbreaks associated with wetter, warmer and more humid conditions."
Peter McGeshick III, a rice chief with the Sokaogon Community of Mole Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, has been harvesting rice for more than 50 years on the reservation and said this year is a particularly bad harvest.