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- Ami Eckard-Lee:
Our connection to food

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is a lot deeper
than just eating to survive.

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Food invokes memories.

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It is a way to express
ourselves, where we come from,

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and what we believe in.

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Food is part
of cultural identity

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for people all over the world.

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For example,
wild rice, known as manoomin

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in the Anishinaabe language,

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is a significant part
of Anishinaabe culture.

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But it's becoming harder
to find and harvest

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due to climate change
and other human impacts.

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But how exactly does
climate change

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impact culture and community?

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And what can we do to protect
these traditional foods?

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[bright music]

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Northern wild rice, or manoomin,

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is a species native
to the Great Lakes region.

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For hundreds of years,

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this species has grown in the
shallow waters of lakes

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and slow-flowing rivers,

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and has been
a traditional food source

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for First Nations people.

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However, climate change has
impacted wild rice habitat

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and is making it difficult
to grow and harvest.

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As people lose access to foods
that were once abundant

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and a significant part
of their diet,

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they begin to lose their
food sovereignty.

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Food sovereignty
is a person's right

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to healthy and
culturally appropriate food

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produced through ecologically
sound and sustainable methods.

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It is the power to have control
over your food,

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where it comes from,
and how it is grown.

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But why is food sovereignty
so important?

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- Sagen Quale: Food is medicine.

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What we put into our bodies

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and the way in which we harvest
and grow it is really important.

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Manoomin is just so central
to Anishinaabe

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or Ojibwe identity that really
with, like, a loss of manoomin,

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people have felt, like,
a loss in that identity.

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I always think back
to our migration story.

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Ojibwe people were originally
on the east coast

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of Turtle Island.

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They were given a prophecy
to say that

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in order to continue to,
you know, survive

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and thrive and live,
you need to go

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to where the food grows
on water.

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People say it took
a couple hundred years

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to move all the way
from the East Coast

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to the Great Lakes region.

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And once we got here

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is when Ojibwe people came
to find manoomin,

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the good berry, wild rice.

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So, I was taught that
that rice is really special.

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Passing along the knowledge
of manoomin

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is something that was done
for me,

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and that is what I need to do
for others.

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- Wild rice plays
a significant role

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not just in Anishinaabe culture,

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but also within its own
ecosystem.

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It helps stabilize
the banks of lakes and rivers

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by holding sediment in place
with its root system.

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It filters the water.

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It provides habitat for fish
and waterfowl

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and food for birds, insects,
and people.

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It's a vital part
of the ecosystem.

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But as the ecosystem changes,

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this species is having
a hard time growing

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where it used to thrive.

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So, what exactly is causing
this decline?

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Let's get down in the weeds
and talk to some researchers

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from the UW-Madison Center
for Limnology,

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who are working up at the
Trout Lake Station

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in northern Wisconsin.

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What does your research
focus on?

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- Gretchen Gerrish: I think our
project started on wild rice,

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with the more recent declines.

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So, for the last five years,
we've been surveying populations

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to look at which populations
are doing well,

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which ones have experienced
decline,

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and which ones may be
threatened.

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There's a lot of questions
about the seed storage.

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So, rice that falls one year
can actually fall into the mud

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and sit there for many years
before it germinates.

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- Ami: Oh!
- Yeah.

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A lot of annual plants
have seed banks.

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- What does annual plant mean?

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- The difference between an
annual and a perennial plant

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is that annual plants
grow from seed each year.

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A perennial plant can actually
have a root

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that stays in the dirt
or in the lake,

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and then it'll start growing out
of that existing root structure.

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So, based on that
seed bank question,

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and we've also been taking
sediment cores.

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And so, this is where you just
take a tube

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and shove it down in the mud,
cap it off.

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You pull it up and you sieve it.

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And then you look
at how many seeds

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are in a section of sediment,

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how deep they are
in that sediment.

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And that gives you an idea
of how much seed goes

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from one year to the next,

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or how much goes
from fall to summer.

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So, it's common in a sparse
population like this,

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where your core might contain
no seeds.

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- So, what changes are happening
in the environment

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that threaten wild rice growth?

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- Climate's
threatening the wild rice.

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Water level rise and fall
is definitely one.

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And those are two big ones.

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But the other ones
are herbivory.

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And then, of course,
wave action.

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You know, if you have rice
on a lake

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where there's boats
creating big waves,

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it can uproot the plants.

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- Ray Allen: And I think there
has been worries about people

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because you can get a state
permit to harvest wild rice.

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You don't have to be
a tribal member to do it.

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Is that, people just don't know
the techniques.

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And yet, since it's, like,
such a delicate plant.

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And it's, as Gretchen mentioned,
it's annual.

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Like, if you lose that seed
that one year,

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you're not gonna have it
the next year.

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- Yeah.
- And you'd have to rely

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on your seed bank.

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- Yeah, I think when we get
into discussions

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about loss of wild rice too,

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the loss of human connection
to the rice

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over the years, there's a lot
of knowledge about harvesting.

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So, if you harvest rice
before it's ripe,

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the seed that falls

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can't actually germinate
for the next year.

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And so, there's a timing
for harvest

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that's very, very important
to think about.

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And so, having that
deeper understanding

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of when it's ready to harvest

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is knowledge that needs
to come forward

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to help protect the rice.

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- Ami: Climate change
and other stressors,

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such as human impact,

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are causing wild rice beds
to decline.

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But losing manoomin
isn't an option

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for those dedicated
to protecting this species.

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Let's meet up with Kathy Smith,
a strong advocate for wild rice,

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to learn why the species
is so important

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for its ecosystem
and how we can help protect it.

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Can you tell me a little bit

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about the Great Lakes Indian
Fish and Wildlife Commission?

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- Kathy Smith: So, what we do is
we help our 11 member tribes

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in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
and Michigan

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with their hunting, fishing,
and gathering rights

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for off reservation only.

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- Manoomin, it's wild.

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But you are stewarding it.

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What does that look like,
and how do you monitor it?

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- What we also do at GLIFWC,
is we do aerial photos.

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We fly over, you know, parts of
Minnesota, parts of Michigan

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and northern Wisconsin here
within the ceded territories.

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So, we continue to monitor,
you know, rice from the air.

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We have all these tools that are
given to us to be able to,

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you know, work
alongside that Ojibwe knowledge.

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- What changes have you seen?

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- I've seen some beds
really decline

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where they were not doing
too well.

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It's a indicator species

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that really tells us
what's going on,

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you know, within this
natural environment.

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If it's not doing so well,

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something could be impacting it
by pollution,

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invasive species,
or even water quality.

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But that's what happens,
you know,

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when we have the shifting of the
seasons or of the climate,

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you know, just really impacting
some of these rice beds.

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- What kinds of restoration
projects do you do?

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- So, the types of restoration
projects that we do

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is we get the seed from the rice

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and then go and spread it
in areas

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that, where it's sparse
to help things along.

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So, that's what the purpose
of reseeding, you know, today

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is to be able to, you know,
put the rice where

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there was a little bit sparser,

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maybe build up the density
for the rice.

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So, for our future, I hope
our kids get really excited

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about good, clean food,

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and food sovereignty,
I think, is a big thing.

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This is our grocery store
right here.

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You know, we got a lot of
wonderful foods and medicines.

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- You just have to know
what you're looking at.

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Climate change is a threat
to food sovereignty everywhere,

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not just for Indigenous
food systems.

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But there are ways
we can support

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and protect these resources.

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Be conscious of where
you get your food,

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and make sure you're
obtaining it

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from a sustainable source that
prioritizes the health

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and care of the ecosystem
as a whole.

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Participate
in restoration efforts,

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such as reseeding events,
in the places

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that you live or visit,
and advocate for regulations

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that protect sensitive habitats
and encourage others

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to learn about the species
that live and grow

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in their communities

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so that they can be better
stewards of these areas too.

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Food is part
of cultural identity.

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By protecting our environment,

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we're also preserving heritage,
traditions, and communities.

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So, know where your food
comes from,

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how it's harvested, and ways
that you can help protect it

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so you can continue eating it
for years to come.

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[bright music]

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- Videographer: I'm rolling.
- Okay.

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What's the vibe?

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Casual?

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- Producer: There's a snake.
[water splashes]