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This episode is the final one in our four part series that we're calling the future of dot, dot dot. Every summer, once the ie has thawed, the surface of the lake is slowly breached by tall, green stalks that grow up and out of the water. By early fall, big rice lake is dotted with canoes full of people there to harvest the grains from those plants. The ajibwa name for this specific type of rice is manomen, which slates to the good berry. Manoman used to grow wild all over the great lakes region, but its populations have declined significantly in the last hundred years due to development, climate change,. In order to

The Ojibwe name for wild rice is Manoomin, which translates to “the good berry.” The scientific name is Zizania palustris. It’s the only grain indigenous to North America, and while it might be called rice, it’s actually not closely related to brown or white rice at all. It has long played an important role in Ojibwe cultures, but last year, Manoomin took on a new role: plaintiff in a court case. Last August, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was sued by wild rice. The case of Manoomin v Minnesota Department of Natural Resources alleges that the Minnesota DNR infringed on the wild rice’s right to live and thrive. But can wild rice sue a state agency? The short answer is: yes. This is the story about what might happen if rice wins.

The Rights of Rice and Future of Nature

Support for this episode was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. RWJF is working to build a culture of health that ensures everyone in the United States has a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. If you have a hunch about how changes to the way we live, learn, work and play today are shaping our future, share it here: www.shareyourhunch.org