Manoomin (Wild Rice)
Alderville Black Oak Savanna supports community Elder Jeff Beaver in his Manoomin teachings and research. Manoomin is an annual wild grass which produces a very valuable grain, used by First Nations peoples for thousands of years. Historically, the natural “rice bowl” extended over an area west of Lake Superior to Southern Manitoba and into adjacent states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Many lakes and rivers received their names from the presence of Wild Rice; one of which being Rice Lake, part of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Wild Rice filters water, binds loose soils, and provides protection from high winds and waves along shorelines, providing habitat for Species at Risk such as Least Bitterns and Black Terns. The life cycle of Wild Rice starts with annual germination in the lake and river bottoms. The plant then goes through submerged, floating and aerial phases. Harvest takes place in late August and September. First Nations peoples came to harvest the extensive beds of rice off Rice Lake from villages up to 200 km away. Wild Rice was a staple food for the Anishinaabe and Algonquin peoples.
First Nation Use
The Anishinaabemowin word for Wild Rice is Manoomin, meaning “gift from the creator,” and other First Nations refer to it as “the Good Seed.” The Seven Fires First Nation teachings handed down by Elders say 7 prophets came to the Anishinaabe. They came when people were living along the northeastern coast of North America. Each prophecy was called a Fire. The third prophecy refers to Manoomin. It says that when the Anishinaabe find the path to the chosen ground, a land to the west, they must move their families. This will be the land where food grows on the water. After many years of travelling, they finally found the place where food grows on the water, near Spirit Island, on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Wild Rice has always been regarded as the sacred gift of their chosen ground. (From The Mishomis Book “The Voice of the Ojibway”, by Eddie Benton-Benai).
Through archaeological records, we know the Rice Lake area was inhabited first by Paleo or Stone Age peoples for 10,800 years. The earliest post-glacial record of Wild Rice is a 10,000-year-old fossil at Bog Creek in east central Minnesota. A study of the Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Rice Lake found Wild Rice was well established in the bays around Serpent Mounds 3,500 years ago.
Challenges to Wild Rice Recovery
Wild Rice stands in Southern Ontario have drastically declined due to fluctuating water levels, shoreline development, dredging, illegal removal, and introduced species. Rice Lake today has significantly less Wild Rice than its once vast beds. Dams along the Trent Severn Waterway flooded the beds, and the introduction of Common Carp via Lake Ontario uprooted the remaining rice along the Trent Severn Waterway system. First Nation harvesters have been working to bring back the rice to Rice Lake and re-seed areas within Alderville First Nation traditional territory and partner First Nations.
Restoration of historic Wild Rice beds, ongoing inventory, and monitoring of existing beds are very important for the future of Wild Rice. Securing funding to ensure the future of Wild Rice in the region is an ongoing challenge for Alderville First Nation.
