Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan

by Barbara J Barton

Overview

This is the first book of its kind to bring forward the rich tradition of wild rice in Michigan and its importance to the Anishinaabek people who live there. Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan focuses on the history, culture, biology, economics, and spirituality surrounding this sacred plant. The story travels through time from the days before European colonization and winds its way forward in and out of the logging and industrialization eras. It weaves between the worlds of the Anishinaabek and the colonizers, contrasting their different perspectives and divergent relationships with Manoomin. Barton discusses historic wild rice beds that once existed in Michigan, why many disappeared, and the efforts of tribal and nontribal people with a common goal of restoring and protecting Manoomin across the landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611862805
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2018
Edition description:	1
Pages:	214
Sales rank:	260,260
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

BARBARA J. BARTON is an endangered species biologist; member of the State of Michigan’s wild rice working group, Michigan Water Environment Association, and western Upper Peninsula’s wild rice team; and academic affiliate of the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts Biological Station, where she collaborates on the state’s wild rice map. She was awarded the 2009 MSU Extension Diversity Award for her work with the Michigan tribes on Manoomin.

Table of Contents

Lists Of Maps, Figures, And Tables vii

Foreword Peter F. David xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xxi

Chapter 1 Manoomin 1

Chapter 2 The Industrialization of Western Lake Erie 31

Chapter 3 Logging in the Saginaw River Basin 57

Chapter 4 Draining the Swamplands 69

Chapter 5 The Dam at Getegitigaaning 89

Chapter 6 Restoring Manoomin 103

Chapter 7 Present Day Restoration Projects 129

Chapter 8 Harvesting and Processing Manoomin 147

Chapter 9 Manoomin, the Good Berry 159

Afterword 171

Appendix 1 Historic Locations of Manoomin 175

Appendix 2 Manoomin Restoration Efforts as Reported in Historic Newspapers from Michigan, 1877-1939 179

Appendix 3 Manoomin Plantings at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, 1938-1984 187

Bibliography 195

Index 221

Editorial Reviews

Barton brings us the untold story of one of Michigan's iconic natural resources—its cultural and historical importance, its mistreatment and demise, and the seeds of hope for its future recovery. She writes with deep reverence and careful scholarship, in a warm style that makes me want to paddle the backwaters of Michigan’s rivers and lakes, searching for lost stands of this amazing grass.”
—SAMUEL THAYER, author of The Forager’s Harvest, Nature’s Garden, and Incredible Wild Edibles
 

From the Publisher