Rise and Repair Alliance Advocates for Wild Rice Protection Act
Saint Paul, MN — Urging Minnesota legislators to adopt bills related to environmental conservation at the start of a new legislative session, the Rise and Repair Alliance gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on January 14, 2025. For many activists present, the main focus was on saving wild rice, which would be a key measure in safeguarding the natural resource as an Indigenous legal right.
At the Capitol, singer, artist and organizer Eoin Small hosted activists, providing snacks and coffee while they signed postcards with messages intended for legislators. Unicorn Riot was there to document the family-friendly art-filled action and hear from environmentalists.
Organizers are pushing the legislature to recognize Indigenous peoples’ rights to harvest and protect wild rice. A resolution was passed last year in Minnesota’s House enshrining wild rice as sacred and establishing a commitment to “passing Rights of Manoomin/Psíŋ legislation” that is based on White Earth Nation’s Rights of Manoomin.
Last week on Feb. 7, what’s being labeled by activists as the wild rice protection act, bill SF1247, was introduced by Assistant Majority Leader Senator Mary Kunesh (DFL-39).
Small said that “within the context of climate [and] the destruction of our wild rice and our lands here in Minnesota, we don’t have a year to spare.”
Gina Peltier, also an organizer with Rise and Repair Alliance, said she showed up to the Capitol on a weekday because she has an obligation to contact representatives to tell them what she feels they should support. She said she wanted to “encourage others in our communities to show up because usually our senators and our representatives won’t support any kind of law unless our community is behind it.”
A harvester of wild rice herself, Rise and Repair organizer Leanna Goose of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said she “would like to show legislators they need to begin to care about the land around them and protect it for the next generations.”
“[Wild rice] is a beautiful gift from the creator and deserves all the protections we can give it.”
Leanna Goose, wild rice harvester, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
The Rise and Repair Alliance is “a diverse alliance of people and organizations advancing Indigenous rights and climate justice in Minnesota’s legislature.” Previously, in April 2024, Rise and Repair advocated for the return of land to Indigenous nations in what they call “land return” bills, including returning White Earth Forest to the White Earth Nation and Upper Red Lake to the Red Lake Nation.
Rise and Repair organizers are also advocating to protect the environment with bills such as HF3566, the 100% E-Waste Recycling bill, rather than opening up new mines for materials, such as the Talon Mine, which would potentially impact wild rice waters around Big Sandy Lake.
As the legislative session struggles for stability amid ongoing political turmoil, activists say they will be pressuring the legislature until the bill is passed.
Related Unicorn Riot reporting on wild rice in Minnesota
Read our 2017 report on communities in northern Minnesota coming together to save sacred manoomin, and watch the video below.
Also see our 2015 video from Hole In The Day Lake in Minnesota documenting Indigenous nations exerting their Treaty Rights and gathering wild rice.
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