Mnomen: Assessing the Feasability of Anishinaabe-Centered Wild Rice Restoration on University of Michigan Properties

Abstract

For Anishinaabe communities, Mnomen (wild rice/Zizania sp.) is a relative that sustains their body and soul. They have cared for this plant in a good way since making a home in the Great Lakes, and they know it best. Supporting their reconnection to this sacred food is one of the steps that can be taken to right the wrongs of the past, and forefront true histories and the resiliency of the people of this land who survived against all odds. Universities, as benefactors of and contributors to colonial society, have a lot of work to do in support of efforts to decolonize land and food. It was with this in mind that a team of dedicated students, staff, faculty, and Anishinaabek-experts began envisioning the Mnomen Initiative. This initiative will build upon existing relationships through the creation and stewardship of ecologically and culturally appropriate landscape through the restoration of Mnomen (wild rice, Zizania aquatica/palustris) on University of Michigan (U-M) properties. This practicum is the first stage of the initiative and worked to build a collaborative of Anishinaabe community members, tribal nations, community members and U-M allies who will work to assess the ecological and societal feasibility of wild rice restoration on 10 properties owned by U-M. By drawing on the western and traditional knowledges brought to this initiative by its members, two properties: St. Pierre Wetlands and Matthaei Botanical Gardens were found to contain waterbodies suitable for Mnomen restoration. Willow Pond at the botanical gardens and a small cove on Bass Lake at St. Pierre Wetlands provide excellent settings for a reintroduction of Mnomen that would not only restore ecological relationships but support the revival of traditional Anishinaabek foodways and relationships to land. Through the cocreation of a space with shared goals, values, and dedication to being in right-relations, this restoration effort has the potential to reshape the way U-M relates to Indigenous people.