Importance of Manoomin (Psiŋ, wild rice, Zizania palustris) to the Culture, Diet, and Health of the Anishinabeg

Abstract:

Manoomin, the Ojibwe word for naturally grown wild rice, is one of the only food crops that is grown completely in the water. This crop is a sacred and culturally vital plant to the Indigenous people in the Great Lakes region, where Manoomin is found and grown the most. Manoomin has many striking differences between the commercially purchased cultivated/paddy wild rice genetically bred by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. The university was not and is still not sanctioned by the Indigenous tribes to continue with the research done on their sacred plant Manoomin. This topic describes the importance of Manoomin to Native people physically, spiritually, and emotionally, the key differences between naturally grown Manoomin and cultivated wild rice, and the role the University of Minnesota played with the development of cultivated wild rice.