On:
In: Adam Gips, Amy Corrozino-Lyon, Brothertown Nation, Deidre Peroff, Elliot Benjamin, Gweni Malokofsky, Jesse Conaway, Kane Farmer, Lake Winnebego, Lucia Richardson, manoomin, Menominee Indian Reservation, Oconto, Pipper Gallivan. Back row: Sashi White, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sarah Zieglmeier, Titus Seilheimer, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, wild rice

Summer Outreach Scholar students Sarah Zieglmeier, Adam Gips and Gweni Malokofsky canoe to learn about ecological monitoring and a Manoomin restoration/reseeding project. Image credit: Deidre Peroff, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The calendar has flipped to 2024. Our staff members are already tackling new projects. Before they move too deeply into the new year, however, some staff members took a moment to retain the glow of their favorite 2023 project. Deidre Peroff, social science outreach specialist, shared her thoughts.

My favorite project from 2023 was when I took seven “Generation Z” students who are studying Manoomin (wild rice) camping near Green Bay. I was mentoring two of the students as part of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Summer Outreach Scholar Program and the other five came from the University of Minnesota. They were also studying Manoomin and participating in summer Manoomin-related field excursions.

The Summer Outreach Scholar group enjoys an ice cream stop after a day trip. Pictured, left to right, front row: Elliot Benjamin, Adam Gips, Pipper Gallivan. Back row: Sashi White, Lucia Richardson, Deidre Peroff, Sarah Zieglmeier, Kane Farmer. Image credit: Deidre Peroff, Wisconsin Sea Grant

During four jam-packed days, we learned from Indigenous knowledge-holders about the significance of Manoomin and visited sacred cultural sites on the Menominee Indian Reservation. We met with Amy Corrozino-Lyon (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay restoration scientist) and Titus Seilheimer (Sea Grant fisheries outreach specialist) one day to learn about ecological restoration efforts of Manoomin in Oconto and did journal and poetry writing to better connect with a new plant (inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work, “Braiding Sweetgrass”). We also met with Jesse Conaway (who is working with the Brothertown Nation on another Sea Grant-funded project) to participate in a traditional Manoomin appreciation ceremony, plus we saw how drones are used for monitoring Manoomin in the Lake Winnebego region.

While the students learned so much, what I think we all appreciated the most was spending time together and getting to know each other. During our three nights camping, we enjoyed cooking meals together, playing cards, telling stories by the campfire and swimming in Lake Michigan.

At night, we reflected on what we had learned that day and I enjoyed seeing the students’ newfound understanding and appreciation of Indigenous knowledge and finding a balance between Western and Indigenous science approaches to conservation, restoration and monitoring of a cultural, spiritual and ecological keystone species. When we weren’t reflecting on what we were learning during the day, we enjoyed sleeping under the stars (and storms) and finding time to decompress in nature.

 

The post Learning about Manoomin first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/learning-about-manoomin/

Deidre Peroff

On:
In: Ashley Gries, Brothertown Indian Nation, Brothertown Nation, First Nations, Jessica Ryan, Jessie Conaway, Lake Poygan, Lake Winnebago, manoomin, Native nations, Skip Blanc, wild rice

As the largest lake entirely within Wisconsin’s borders, Lake Winnebago spans nearly 132,000 acres across three counties. Fed by the Wolf and Fox rivers, it’s a place rich in significance for several tribal nations, including the Ho Chunk, Meskwaki, Fox, Sauk, Menominee, Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee, Brothertown and others.

It is this importance to multiple nations that led Mark Denning (Oneida/Menominee) to describe Lake Winnebago and its tributaries as “international waters.” Said Jessica Ryan, vice chair of the Brothertown Indian Nation, who recounted hearing this comment from Denning, “That (statement) really stuck out to us… We know that all these nations have called these waterways home, but that was really impactful. This is how all the trading happened, and the water sustained us. It’s the lifeblood of Earth.”

Ryan is part of a team working on an effort known as the Lake Winnebago InterTribal Connectivity Project, which is receiving Wisconsin Sea Grant support during Sea Grant’s 2022-24 research funding cycle. Her partners in this work include Dr. Jessie Conaway of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Skip Blanc, a Brothertown tribal council member; and other members of the Brothertown Nation. They are joined by a vast network of partners from other Native nations, UW-Madison students, non-tribal partners, and agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This large, multifaceted collaborative is focusing on revitalizing wild rice in the Lake Winnebago area.

Wild rice grows in a coastal wetland

Wild rice grows in a coastal wetland in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, in summer 2022. A collaborative effort supported in part by Wisconsin Sea Grant will consider wild rice revitalization at Lake Winnebago. (Photo: Titus Seilheimer)

While still present, particularly in Lake Poygan (just west of Lake Winnebago), wild rice is not what it used to be in the area. Ryan recounted coming across an old journal that described Lake Winnebago as “teeming with rice such that the boats could not pass.” That vivid image stuck in her mind due to its disconnect with current reality.

Project work will include assessing water quality, sediments and wild rice habitat. Said Blanc of the wide-ranging effort, “It’s going to take all of us, Native and non-native, from all spectrums of life to do this.”

Building a network, looking ahead

Ryan and the UW’s Conaway first met back in 2015 and had kept in touch. The current work on Lake Winnebago got off the ground in 2019, in part due to help from Ashley Gries, a UW graduate student at the time. “Students can really be the engines of our work and very inspirational,” said Conaway.

In 2021, the Brothertown Nation, Conaway and Gries formed a strategy and invited 12 tribal nations to come together to discuss wild rice work and Lake Winnebago; eight were able to attend. Sea Grant support began in 2022 to help keep this effort moving forward.

Gries described wild rice as a “persnickety plant” that is sensitive to environmental changes. She sees water levels, water quality, nutrient loading, sedimentation and possible user conflicts as just some of the facets for the collaboration to consider. The team will need to weigh appropriate locations for reseeding plants.

Participants in the 2022 Lake Winnebago Water Walk draw attention to water as a vital, precious resource. All are welcome at the event coordinated by the Brothertown Indian Nation, whose vice chair, Jessica Ryan, is pictured third from the left. Ryan is also a key organizer for the Lake Winnebago InterTribal Connectivity Project.

The project will take a long view, considering not only what is feasible given current conditions and uses of the lake, but also what would be sustainable over many years to come.

“I want to see the rice restored, but I don’t know if that’s practical; I don’t know if it can be done long-term,” said Ryan. Yet it is a cherished goal given the cultural importance of wild rice to many peoples (and also its importance to other living beings that depend on it).

Conaway stressed the need to organize around conservation and tribal priorities. “This area is rich with history, stories and connections. It’s a large project, and it can feel unwieldy, but we know we’re on a good path… and I’m grateful for the opportunity. We’re in it for the long haul,” she said.

The Lake Winnebago InterTribal Connectivity Project will bring together resources, equipment and knowledge from its many partners to learn as much as possible and consider future plans. To learn more, contact Jessie Conaway at jessie.conaway@wisc.edu.

The post Reviving rice: Large collaborative effort will investigate possible wild rice restoration around Lake Winnebago first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/reviving-rice-lake-winnebago/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=reviving-rice-lake-winnebago

Jennifer Smith