Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 20, 2006 13:55:29 GMT -5
A quest to restore wild rice to U.P.
Fifteen youth volunteers joined representatives from the Cedar Tree Institute, the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, the Marquette County Juvenile Court and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to search for wild rice at local aquatic areas Thursday. The exact location is not being disclosed in order to protect the plants. (Journal photo by Scott Swanson)
By SCOTT SWANSON, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — In accordance with an old Ojibwa custom, Don Chosa removed the packet of tobacco from his pocket, took some out and placed it in the lake on a hot morning.
“We put tobacco down for anything that we take,” said Chosa, a long braided ponytail peeking out from beneath his baseball cap.
A short time later a canoe, a kayak and a group of youth volunteers entered the lake on a quest to find wild rice.
Last week’s event was the latest stage of a three-year project dedicated to returning wild rice to the Upper Peninsula’s lakes, streams and wetlands. Four hundred pounds of rice seed have been planted in seven aquatic areas in the U.P. since the project’s inception.
The project was organized by the Cedar Tree Institute, the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, the Marquette County Juvenile Court and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Fifteen youth volunteers joined representatives from the organizations Thursday to get GPS points, take water temperatures, gauge pH levels and collect samples at three Marquette County sites where the rice was placed. The organizations have asked that the sites go unnamed, to discourage overharvesting of the rice.
“We’re just interested in how can we create better conditions throughout the U.P. for wild rice,” said Natasha Lapinski, a development official with the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership. “We have to know in what conditions that it grows.”
Chosa, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and a professor of American Indian studies at Northern Michigan University, said ideal conditions for wild rice include shallow water about 1-3 feet deep with excessive vegetation on the bottom.
On Thursday, the group was looking for wild rice in the “boot” stage — when leaves push up to shield the stalk that will grow the rice seed. Some of the seeds, however, were still in the “floating leaf” stage, which looks like grass floating on the water.
The rice is native to the the Upper Peninsula and was once common, but has dwindled due to the damming of rivers and excessive logging, Chosa said. This will be the last year of the project, unless the organizations can find additional funding.
“It would be nice if they could keep planting wild rice,” Chosa said.
Peter Hutted, a Cedar Tree Institute volunteer with a background in working with children and teenagers, said the project teaches “head, heart and guts” — skills and ideas such as woodsmanship, respect and working together.
“It’s a challenge, of course,” said Hutter, as some of the volunteers dragged a canoe down to the lake. “Some of these kids have never done things like this before.”
The Cedar Tree Institute is a local nonprofit organization that does work in the fields of mental health, religion and the environment.
“What we are doing is healing the earth in the most basic way,” said Tom Reed, also a volunteer with Cedar Tree. “We’re putting a Band-Aid on it, in effect.”
Fifteen youth volunteers joined representatives from the Cedar Tree Institute, the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, the Marquette County Juvenile Court and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to search for wild rice at local aquatic areas Thursday. The exact location is not being disclosed in order to protect the plants. (Journal photo by Scott Swanson)
By SCOTT SWANSON, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — In accordance with an old Ojibwa custom, Don Chosa removed the packet of tobacco from his pocket, took some out and placed it in the lake on a hot morning.
“We put tobacco down for anything that we take,” said Chosa, a long braided ponytail peeking out from beneath his baseball cap.
A short time later a canoe, a kayak and a group of youth volunteers entered the lake on a quest to find wild rice.
Last week’s event was the latest stage of a three-year project dedicated to returning wild rice to the Upper Peninsula’s lakes, streams and wetlands. Four hundred pounds of rice seed have been planted in seven aquatic areas in the U.P. since the project’s inception.
The project was organized by the Cedar Tree Institute, the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, the Marquette County Juvenile Court and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Fifteen youth volunteers joined representatives from the organizations Thursday to get GPS points, take water temperatures, gauge pH levels and collect samples at three Marquette County sites where the rice was placed. The organizations have asked that the sites go unnamed, to discourage overharvesting of the rice.
“We’re just interested in how can we create better conditions throughout the U.P. for wild rice,” said Natasha Lapinski, a development official with the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership. “We have to know in what conditions that it grows.”
Chosa, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and a professor of American Indian studies at Northern Michigan University, said ideal conditions for wild rice include shallow water about 1-3 feet deep with excessive vegetation on the bottom.
On Thursday, the group was looking for wild rice in the “boot” stage — when leaves push up to shield the stalk that will grow the rice seed. Some of the seeds, however, were still in the “floating leaf” stage, which looks like grass floating on the water.
The rice is native to the the Upper Peninsula and was once common, but has dwindled due to the damming of rivers and excessive logging, Chosa said. This will be the last year of the project, unless the organizations can find additional funding.
“It would be nice if they could keep planting wild rice,” Chosa said.
Peter Hutted, a Cedar Tree Institute volunteer with a background in working with children and teenagers, said the project teaches “head, heart and guts” — skills and ideas such as woodsmanship, respect and working together.
“It’s a challenge, of course,” said Hutter, as some of the volunteers dragged a canoe down to the lake. “Some of these kids have never done things like this before.”
The Cedar Tree Institute is a local nonprofit organization that does work in the fields of mental health, religion and the environment.
“What we are doing is healing the earth in the most basic way,” said Tom Reed, also a volunteer with Cedar Tree. “We’re putting a Band-Aid on it, in effect.”