Wild Rice Documentary

Right now in Minnesota, Canadian oil pipeline company Enbridge, is illegally building the Line 3 pipeline on sovereign Native American land.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has determined that there is a 100% chance that the pipeline will spill. However, they have approved the project regardless. And as predicted, the pipeline has already spilled during construction.

If this pipeline continues to spill crude tar sand oil into the land and water it will destroy, among other things, the highly valued native wild rice.

Wild rice is an important food for the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe people. For countless centuries, every fall the Ojibwe people have been foraging for wild rice in the many lakes Minnesota has to offer. Wild Rice is part of their origin story, it is one of the reasons why they migrated from the East Coast to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

I am planning on making a documentary centered around the cultural impacts of the destruction of wild rice. Through an ethnobotanical lens, I want to show the world how important this rice is to these communities and what it will mean if this sacred plant is destroyed or made too toxic to consume. I aim to center the film around indigenous knowledge and leadership, music and art, and awareness to Line 3 and its destruction.

What is wild rice (manoomin)? Check out the PBS video below!