Manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, is a hearty species. Every year, the plant grows from seeds, surviving months of muzzling by sheets of ice brought by intense Upper Midwest winters, fending off hungry waterfowl in the spring, and thriving in heat and aquatic habitats all summer long. Manoomin is sensitive and growing increasingly vulnerable to the dual forces of habitat destruction and climate change.

For millennia, manoomin has grown in the Great Lakes region, thriving in freshwater lakes found in and around what’s now known as Minnesota and Michigan. Its significance is fundamental to Ojibwe identity, drawing back to the creation story that instructed ancestors to migrate to the land where food grew on water. For generations, Ojibwe elders passed on the traditions of ricing: how to harvest the “good berry,” how to practice ceremonies that incorporate manoomin, and how to cook the grain that is as much food as it is medicine.

But since the 1990s, manoomin has experienced devastating losses in the region, by as much as 50% according to some accounts. The culprit is manifold. Land loss dating back to the first contact with settlers in the mid-1800s prevented peoples of the 11 Ojibwe tribes from unencumbered access to ancestral territories, obstructing traditional stewardship and care. The annexation of land to create Midwestern American territories led to further ecosystem destruction from logging, wetland drainage, and housing development. Since the 1990s, manoomin has also experienced its steepest drop-off, likely due to the accelerating consequences of climate change. Shorter, warmer winters, coupled with increased precipitation, have rendered manoomin a fraction of its once abundant growth.

That’s why Leanna Goose, a mother, educator, and enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, helped draft a bill to enshrine manoomin’s right to thrive in Minnesota. The Wild Rice Act, the first of its kind, recognizes manoomin’s cultural significance, its role in providing habitat and food for dozens of other species, and the economic impact for those who sell it for income.

In early April, language from the Wild Rice Act was incorporated into the state Senate’s environmental omnibus bill. Some phrases, like “inherent rights” were replaced with “innate significance.” Other provisions were excluded, such as protecting rice through enforcing stricter permitting standards and preventing boating on uncultivated wild rice beds.