2025 Great Lakes Manoomin (Wild Rice) Gathering – Gimaada’oonidimin
manoomini-gikendaasowin (We share wild rice knowledge)
Dates: November 13-14, 2025
Location: Kewadin Casino and Convention Center
Workshop Objectives:
- Share and learn about the importance of manoomin rights, relationships and responsibilities
- Share lessons learned about manoomin protection and restoration efforts and associated coalition-building
- Share, gain a better understanding of, and identify potential opportunities for collaboration with the various networks and projects working on Manoomin protection, restoration, and stewardship
- Build momentum for:
- Future geospatial monitoring, establishing baselines, collecting/archiving data, as well as assessing trends
- Development of manoomin resilience indicators and stewardship network shared priorities
- Subsequent workshops/gatherings
Local Hosts: Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community
Co-Hosts and Planning Committee: The core planning team for the 2025 Great Lakes Manoomin (Wild Rice) Gathering was composed of co-hosts representing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Consortium for Cooperative Ecological Resilience (CCER), and multiple members of the Michigan Wild Rice Initiative (MWRI) – including members of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), and Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan.
This collaborative effort was further supported by a planning committee that included representatives from a variety of Tribal Nations, entities, and agencies, as well as federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and private organizations.
Earlier Convenings:
Additional gatherings convened by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, academia, and tribal, state, and federal agencies, and supported with funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, took place during earlier project phases in:
- Mashkiiziibiing (Bad River), Wisconsin – 2017;
- Onigamiinsing (Duluth), Minnesota – 2018;
- Asiniinsikaajiigibiig (Baraga), Michigan – 2019; and
- Virtually in 2021 co-hosted by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
Additional information about these gatherings and past phases of work are summarized here: Collaborative Great Lakes Manoomin (Wild Rice) Project.