After decades of neglect, wild rice revitalization projects are underway across Wisconsin

Robert Van Zile Jr., chairman of the Mole Lake Ojibwe Tribe, sprinkles Rice Lake with tobacco in September 2023, asking for a blessing on the waters. 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.

Mudballs consisting of wild rice, lake sediment and clay are prepared to be tossed into shallow waters as part of a wild rice revitalization project. When seeds are tossed onto water, they linger for a while before sinking, making them vulnerable to being eaten. The mud balls sink and get the rice settled.

Wild rice reseeding projects are happening in many parts of Wisconsin. 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.

Jessie Conaway of the University of Wisconsin-Madison broadcasts northern wild rice into a tributary feeding into Lake Poygan near the town of Poy Sippi, west of Oshkosh, in September 2023. Wild rice reseeding projects are going on in multiple parts of Wisconsin. This one is part of the Intertribal Lake Winnebago Wild Rice Revitalization Project, working with the Brothertown Tribe.

Wild rice plants grow on Rice Lake on the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe Reservation near Crandon in September 2023.

Robert Van Zile Jr., left, chairman of the Mole Lake Ojibwe Tribe, dances during the Manoomin Powwow celebrating the wild rice season in September 2023. Wild rice carries great cultural and nutritional importance to the tribe.

United States military veterans carry flags during the Manoomin Powwow celebrating the wild rice season in September 2023. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bazile Minogiizhigaabo Panek, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and consultant for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals based in Arizona, walks along a trail at Prentice Park, just south of Lake Superior in Ashland in September 2023. Panek has seen positive shifts in recent years with more agencies, researchers and organizations asking to consult with tribes and integrate traditional ecological knowledge.