May 15, 2025
Wild rice, called Manoomin in Ojibwemowin and Psiŋ in Dakodiapi, is an essential, sacred species for Native American communities throughout the Upper Great Lakes region. The right to harvest wild rice off-reservation is guaranteed by treaties between Tribes and the U.S. government – but that right is now under threat as negative impacts from climate change increase.
A new study supported by the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center analyzed 35 years of harvest data collected by the 1854 Treaty Authority and the Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Commission. The team found that wild rice available for tribal harvest off-reservation has declined by 5–7 percent annually in the region. These declines are expected to continue as impacts of climate change like increased early-summer precipitation and warmer winters affect wild rice watersheds.
The decline of wild rice is a threat to Tribal lifeways. The project team writes in Nature’s Communications Earth & Environment:
“The decline in Manoomin over the last decades has disrupted Ojibwe lifeways, family, and health. Manoomin cannot simply be replaced by another plant because it is an ‘integral glue’ connecting political, economic, social, spiritual, intellectual, and physical dimensions of Anishinaabeg society. This loss therefore fails to uphold the inherent rights to self-determination and sovereignty of these Ojibwe Nations, as explicitly promised by treaties with the United States and more broadly recognized by the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.”
There are actions land managers and stewards can take to care for wild rice. The authors point toward limiting additional stressors, like pollution, increased sedimentation, and lakefront vegetation removal, as an important step, and suggest respectfully partnering with Ojibwe Nations on restoration, research, harvest, and policy change. Additional adaptation strategies include lowering water levels during winter and the floating-leaf stage, mixing and/or flushing sediments in the early spring to release nutrients and seeds, and cutting back perennial vegetation that out-competes wild rice.
Read the article in Communications Earth & Environment.
Listen to a Wisconsin Public Radio interview with Rob Croll and Brandon Byrne, staff at the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and contributors to this research.