HC 6

Introduction - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024)

Posted on 10/31/2024 01:20 p.m.

A House concurrent resolution
recognizing wild rice as sacred and central to the culture and health of Indigenous
Peoples in Minnesota and critical to the health and identity of all Minnesota citizens
and ecosystems and establishing a commitment to passing Rights of Manoomin/Psíŋ
legislation to protect wild rice and the freshwater resources upon which it depends.

WHEREAS, wild rice is known as Manoomin in Anishinaabe and Psíŋ in Dakota, is considered
by the Anishinaabeg and Dakota peoples to be a gift from the Creator, and is central to their cultures;
and

WHEREAS, the White Earth Nation adopted the White Earth Reservation Rights of Manoomin
(Resolution Number 001-19-009) in December 2018 to protect Manoomin/Psíŋ and provided in
Section 1(a) that "Manoomin, or wild rice, within the White Earth Reservation possesses inherent
rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery,
and preservation. These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to pure water and freshwater
habitat; the right to a healthy climate system and a natural environment free from human-caused
global warming impacts and emissions; the right to be free from patenting; as well as rights to be
free from infection, infestation, or drift by any means from genetically engineered organisms,
trans-genetic risk seed, or other seeds that have been developed using methods other than traditional
plant breeding;" and

WHEREAS, for the Anishinaabeg in particular, Manoomin is the reason for their presence
in the area. In Natural Wild Rice in Minnesota (2008), a report submitted to the legislature by the
Department of Natural Resources, Erma Vizenor, former Chairwoman of the White Earth Band of
Ojibwe, described the migration story of the Anishinaabe: "According to our sacred migration story,
in the long ago a prophet at the third of seven fires beheld a vision from the Creator calling the
Anishinaabe to move west (to a land previously occupied long ago) until they found the place 'where
food grows on the water.' The Anishinaabeg of the upper Mississippi and western Great Lakes have
for generations understood their connection to anishinaabe akiing (the land of the people) in terms
of the presence of this plant as a gift from the Creator;" and

WHEREAS, Manoomin/Psíŋ has been a staple in the diets and economies of native peoples
for generations; is a central element of the culture, heritage, and history of the Anishinaabeg and
Dakota peoples; and is an integral part of the ecosystems and natural communities of the traditional
lands of Indigenous Peoples in Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, Governor Dayton established the Governor's Task Force on Wild Rice, Executive
Order 18-08, May 28, 2018, and Executive Order 18-09, amending Executive Order 18-08,
recognized that wild rice is the official state grain of Minnesota, is culturally important and spiritually
sacred to Minnesota's Tribal Nations, is economically important to the State of Minnesota, is
important to sustaining wildlife, and is dependent on water quality and other habitat conditions;
and

WHEREAS, the scientific understanding of the water quality and habitat conditions necessary
for restoration and protection of naturally occurring wild rice has advanced through legislatively
funded research; and

WHEREAS, the state has goals to restore degraded wild rice habitat and to protect naturally
occurring wild rice stands, and restoring and protecting wild rice habitat requires collaboration
among state agencies, Tribal Nations, wild rice harvesters, industry, conservation advocacy groups,
and scientists; and

WHEREAS, the preliminary recommendations made by the Governor's Task Force on Wild
Rice agreed on the importance of protecting wild rice and clean water; ensuring the viability of all
Minnesota communities; respecting Tribal sovereignty; addressing biological, chemical, and
hydrological threats to wild rice; and sharing the burdens and benefits of any solutions the state
develops; and

WHEREAS, the six Minnesota Chippewa Tribes declined to participate in the Governor's
Task Force on Wild Rice and established the Minnesota Tribal Wild Rice Task Force (TWRTF).
Members of TWRTF included representatives of all 11 federally recognized Tribes in Minnesota;
and

WHEREAS, the TWRTF report focused on the current wild rice standard of 10 mg/L sulfate
and made recommendations to widen the beneficial use of wild rice to include cultural and ecological
values; include all waters identified by the Tribes, the Department of Natural Resources, and the
Pollution Control Agency as wild rice waters where the standard would apply; adopt a more
comprehensive wild rice monitoring, assessment, and mapping strategy; adopt a process for adding
wild rice waters to list; communicate directly with each affected Tribal government to determine
their decision on listing wild rice waters within reservation boundaries; implement and enforce
wild rice water quality standard; examine and invest in sulfate reduction research and treatment
technologies; establish long-term funding; not allow seasonal or "flushing" sulfate discharges;
recognize the value of wild rice and a healthy environment; address impaired waters of Minnesota;
and recognize and support Tribal sovereignty, culture, and treaty rights; and

WHEREAS, Rights of Nature, an international movement of legal and jurisprudential theory,
broadly asserts that nature is a legally recognizable entity with inalienable rights; and

WHEREAS, Rights of Nature has been successfully relied upon to establish legally enforceable
rights in nature, including national constitutional reform in Ecuador; national legislation in Bolivia,
Panama, and Uganda; negotiated settlement of treaty rights in New Zealand; Supreme Court decisions
in India and Columbia; municipal regulations in Mexico City and Northern Ireland; and dozens of
county and municipal laws enacting rights of nature in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, Oregon,
Colorado, New Hampshire, and Florida; and

WHEREAS, Rights of Nature is uniquely important in numerous Tribal Nations in the United
States, including constitutional reform efforts in the Ho-Chunk Nation; use of traditional and
customary law in the Navajo Nation and the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma; recognized rights in rivers
and ecosystems in Yurok Nation; the Menominee Indian Tribe in Wisconsin; the Nez Perce Tribe
in Idaho; and recognition of the Rights of Manoomin in White Earth, the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe, and the 1855 Treaty Council; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota, the Senate
concurring, that it recognizes Manoomin/Psíŋ as sacred and central to the culture and health of
Indigenous Peoples in Minnesota and critical to the health and identity of all Minnesota citizens
and ecosystems; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota,
the Senate concurring, establishes a commitment to passing Rights of Manoomin/Psíŋ legislation
to protect wild rice and the freshwater resources upon which it depends within two years after the
governor signs the enrolled copy of this resolution.