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Minnesota Ojibwe harvest sacred, climate-imperiled wild rice

Elaine Fleming, a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe elder, offers a plate of harvested foods, including wild rice, venison and berries all sprinkled with tobacco, to the waters of Leech Lake after a day of wild rice harvesting and processing, in Cass Lake, Minn., Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) A fresh pot of hand-harvested and processed wild rice is shared by students and faculty of Leech Lake Tribal College as a part of a traditional Ojibwe ceremony, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Cass Lake, Minn. Threats of changing climate, invasive species and pollution make it crucial to teach young band members to harvest wild rice respecting both rituals and the environment. That will help wild rice remain available as an essential element for ceremonies, but also as a much-needed income generator for the Leech Lake reservation. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Ryan White stirs the hand-harvested and processed wild rice over a fire at the Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, Minn., Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Threats of changing climate, invasive species and pollution make it crucial to teach young band members to harvest wild rice respecting both rituals and the environment. That will help wild rice remain available as an essential element for ceremonies, but also as a much-needed income generator for the Leech Lake reservation. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Alvin Thunder, a Leech Lake Tribal College student in the carpentry and construction program, tosses wild rice in a birchbark basket during a process called "winnowing," which uses the wind to help remove the hulls from the rice before it's cooked, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Cass Lake, Minn. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) From left, Kendra Haugen, David Villier, Joey Riley, Ryan White and Nate Johnson hand-clean wild rice before cooking it over a fire, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at the Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, Minn. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region because it's part of their creation story. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Elaine Fleming, a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe elder and professor at the Leech Lake Tribal College, smiles as she watches her students learn to hand-process the wild rice gathered on Leech Lake, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Cass Lake, Minn. "In our origin story, we were told to go where food grew on water," said Fleming. "It's our sacred food." (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) The sun begins to rise over a bed of wild rice on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region, but is being threatened by changing climate, invasive species and pollution. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Elaine Fleming, a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe elder and professor at the Leech Lake Tribal College, prays and gently tosses a handful of tobacco into the lake water to ask for safe passage on the water and give thanks before harvesting wild rice on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Ryan White drives a boat pulling his ricing partner Darold Madigan out to the Headquarters rice bed on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. White, who has been ricing for three decades, says the beds are "continually shrinking," which endangers wild rice's spiritual and economic gifts. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) The sun rises over a wild rice bed in Steamboat Bay on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Student Kelsey Burns and Professor Joey Riley harvest wild rice for the first time with fellow Leech Lake Tribal College members in Steamboat Bay on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. The new harvesters are taught to respect the rice by not breaking the stems and if you lose balance, jump out of the canoe to avoid tipping the precious cargo back into the water. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Darold Madigan, left, and Ryan White bag their wild rice after harvesting it by hand from the Headquarters rice bed on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region, because it's part of their creation story and staved off starvation during harsh winters for centuries. Today, the money made by harvesting and selling the wild rice helps White, a single dad, pay the bills and buy new school clothes and books for his two young sons. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Nate Johnson acts as the poler, pushing the canoe forward, for Leech Lake Tribal College student Kendra Haugen who uses two wooden sticks called "knockers" to gently pull the wild rice stalks over the canoe and tap the rice into the bed of the boat, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Steamboat Bay on Leech Lake, in Minnesota. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region, because it's part of their creation story. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Nate Johnson pulls a piece of wild rice from its hull during the parching, or heating process, to gauge how much longer it will need to stay over the fire, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Cass Lake, Minn. The rice is then danced on to jiggle the husks loose and finally winnowed in birchbark baskets before cooking the wild rice over a small fire. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Leech Lake Tribal College students harvest wild rice in Steamboat Bay on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Wild rice, or manoomin (good seed) in Ojibwe, is sacred to Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region, because it's part of their creation story and staved off starvation during harsh winters for centuries. But changing climate, invasive species and pollution are threatening the plant. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) Ryan White, front, and Darold Madigan harvest wild rice on Leech Lake in Minnesota, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. White, who has been ricing for three decades, says the beds are "continually shrinking," which endangers the wild rice's spiritual and economic gifts. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)