Sairoong Brunner

Wild rice, or Manoomin in the Ojibwe language, is a significant natural and cultural resource for the Indigenous people of the Upper Great Lakes region. Many cultural practices reliant on Manoomin have been jeopardized as a result of declining Manoomin abundance within the region. A multitude of environmental factors, including water level and discharge rate in lakes and streams where Manoomin grows, are relevant to the species’ health. This study aimed to understand the potential causes of declining Manoomin abundance at a culturally important river site on the Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation. It is unknown what has caused this decline, yet tribal community members hypothesize that an upstream dam operated by the state of Wisconsin may impact the hydrology of the river. With permission from tribal community members, this study aimed to gather hydrological information potentially related to interactions between state infrastructure operations and Manoomin levels at the river site. Research included contact with dam engineers, as well as the assessments of U.S. Geological Survey and Midwestern Regional Climate Center cli-Mate datasets at the river site. Visual representations of this data will be synthesized with coinciding tribal accounts of Manoomin abundance/sparsity. Access constraints limited abilities to obtain state-owned hydrological records of operations; however, a Wisconsin DNR management plan provided information on standards hopefully being met at the flowage site. This kind of analysis allows us to see relationships between different aspects of a river’s hydrology and potential natural and anthropogenic factors influencing it. This contributes to a greater understanding of the causes of conditions that harm Manoomin as well as the context of state and tribal relationships pertaining to the river site.