Education & Outreach
Community programs, rice camps, school outreach, professional training, and building widespread appreciation of Manoomin's cultural and ecological significance.
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Our Work
Governance Landscape
Understanding the legal, institutional, and relational frameworks within which MWRI pursues its mission — from Tribal sovereignty and Treaty rights to inter-agency collaboration.
About MWRI
A Collaboration Rooted in Relationship
The Michigan Wild Rice Initiative is a collaboration between the twelve federally recognized Anishinaabe nations that share geography with the state of Michigan, alongside several Michigan state agencies.
Since 2017, this group of managers, specialists, knowledge holders, and academics has worked together to protect, preserve, and restore Manoomin and the culture surrounding it. MWRI is co-chaired by a state and a Tribal representative, and is led by the Anishinaabe people who have carried this responsibility for generations.
MWRI draws members from both the Initiative and federal agencies, conservation NGOs, colleges, and universities. This breadth of participation reflects the understanding that protecting Manoomin requires collaboration across many different institutions and knowledge systems.
The governance work of MWRI is not simply organizational — it is a living practice of building the inter-Tribal and cross-agency relationships that make restoration and protection possible at scale.
12 Anishinaabe Nations
2017 Year Founded
3 Subcommittees
1st State Native Grain in the U.S.
"Governance and collaboration dynamics across the landscape, potentially impacting Manoomin, are concretely illustrated and outlined to support stronger inter-Tribal and agency collaboration."
Subcommittees
Three Areas of Focus
MWRI organizes its work through three subcommittees, each focused on a specific area of the Initiative's mission. Each subcommittee is guided by its own set of goals and objectives.
Policy & Protection
Advocacy for legal protections, Treaty rights education, collaboration with state and federal agencies, and working to secure consistent funding for Manoomin activities.
Explore Policy →Monitoring & Restoration
Coordinated ecological monitoring across Michigan's Manoomin waters, shared restoration protocols, seed banking, and a data infrastructure built on Tribal data sovereignty principles.
Explore Monitoring → Member Nations
The Twelve Anishinaabe Nations
MWRI is a collaboration among the twelve federally recognized Anishinaabe nations that share geography with the state of Michigan — the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodéwadmi nations of the Council of Three Fires.
Bay Mills Indian Community
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Hannahville Indian Community
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe)
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
State Agency Partners
Cross-Agency Collaboration
MWRI's work requires ongoing collaboration with Michigan state agencies that have jurisdiction over the lands and waters where Manoomin grows.
Several Michigan state agencies participate in MWRI's work and are essential partners in achieving the Initiative's stewardship, education, and policy goals:
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) — Land management, permitting, conservation enforcement, and species protection on state-managed lands and waters.
- Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) — Water quality regulation, wetland permitting, and environmental protection affecting Manoomin habitats.
- Michigan Sea Grant — Research, extension, and outreach connecting science to coastal and Great Lakes communities. Has provided significant documentation of MWRI's work.
Federal partners include the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, among others.
