Caitlin Looby Frank Vaisvilas Madeline Heim
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MOLE LAKE — In late August, Robert Van Zile Jr., looked out over Rice Lake with dismay. Brown spot disease had decimated this year's wild rice crop.
The lake is home to the last remaining wild rice bed on the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe Reservation, and one of the few ancient beds left in Wisconsin. Researchers collect seeds there annually for reseeding projects in other parts of the state. In addition to nutritional and cultural value, wild rice beds create habitat for fish, filter pollutants and nutrients out of the water, and provide food for migrating birds.
This year, Van Zile, chairman of the Mole Lake Ojibwe Tribe, had to deny researchers and other outside harvesters so there would be enough for tribal members.
“(Ricing) is very important because there are people who don’t have jobs, who have children, and they need the rice to provide for their families,” said Van Zile’s son, Leelyn Van Zile, who is a rice chief for the tribe. The rice – manoomin, in Ojibwe – is a staple in their diet.
Second in the series:Indigenous approach to agriculture could change our relationship to food. And help the land in the process.
Researchers believe the fungus causing brown spot disease is spreading quickly because it thrives on the intense rainfall and hotter, more humid weather ushered in with climate change. As extreme conditions become more common, natural resources will be stressed further.
Mole Lake Ojibwe tribal officials said the plant once grew on seven bodies of water within the reservation. Now, it occupies just the 2-mile shoreline of Rice Lake, mostly the result of development that was out of the tribe's control.
The Indigenous communities that call this region home have been practicing good land stewardship and sharing that message with others. But for too long, that message hasn't been heard.
The tribes hold thousands of years of expertise. They believe their traditional ecological knowledge is critical to safeguarding resources and cleaning up the land, air and water for everyone. And they're keenly aware that our relationship with nature is at one of the most critical junctures in history.
The question is: Will anyone pay attention?