Background
Background
What We Do
Project Background
The project is currently funded by a four-year grant (2023–2026) from the Wisconsin Rural Partnerships Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The institute is part of a broader Institute for Rural Partnerships housed at UW–Madison, Auburn University, and the University of Vermont and funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The institute aims to promote equitable, resilient, and prosperous food and agricultural systems and expanded opportunities for rural community development.
This project aims to support
Related Initiatives
Our project joins a network of food sovereignty initiatives in the Great Lakes region’s Tribal communities. Some examples include:
- The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition is a coalition of the 11 Federally-recognized Tribes in Wisconsin that works together to heal Tribal communities by strengthening Indigenous food networks.
- The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition’s Tribal Elder Food Box Program begun in 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The program rovides healthy, culturally appropriate food to Tribal elders and creates a guaranteed market for Tribal food producers. In 2024, the program delivered 31,515 food boxes to elders from all 11 federally recognized Tribal Nations in Wisconsin plus 3 community health centers in Milwaukee.
- The Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council is a non-profit that works with Tribal Nations in Wisconsin on natural resource and agricultural issues on Tribal lands. The WTCAC Board is comprised of an appointed representative and alternate from each of the 11 federally recognized Tribal Nations in Wisconsin. WTCAC serves as an advisory body to the USDA and NRCS on Tribal issues. Founded in 2021, WTCAC was the first such advisory council formed in the US.
- The Manoomin Restoration Partnership is a collaboration between the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR), Tribal partners, and non-profits. They are seeking to restore at least 275 acres of wild rice in the St. Louis River Estuary between 2014-2024. The group created a Wild Rice Restoration Implementation Plan for the estuary and manages ongoing restoration efforts.
- The Wild Rice in the Classroom project engages teachers and K-12 students in hands-on learning and conservation in the Green Bay coastal wetlands. In 2022, more than 400 students participated in their classrooms or on field trips to local marshes.
- The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Menominee Nation, Lac Courte Oreilles Nation, and Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission were awarded an America the Beautiful Challenge Grant in 2023 to develop outreach, community engagement, and implementation approaches to support manoomin management.
- With Tribal and regional partners, Wisconsin Sea Grant has developed a Manoomin Education and Outreach Toolkit to increase awareness of wild rice’s cultural and spiritual significance, as well as its important ecological functions.
Our Tribal partners include individuals affiliated with several of these existing efforts, and our project seeks to complement and amplify their impacts.
