Cofrin Center for Biodiversity

Wild Rice in Wisconsin

by UWGB graduate student Juniper Sundance

Wild rice has historically been widespread throughout much of Wisconsin. In addition to numerous historical reports of it across northern Wisconsin, in the Madison area lakes, and along the Fox River, archeological records date it in settlements along the Mississippi River in 200 AD (Arzigian 2000) and by Lake Kegonsa in the 1200’s (Eagan-Bruhy 2001).

Anishinaabe history states that the presence of wild rice beds was an indication of where they should settle (hup!multimedia 1999) . Fur traders and explorers counted on obtaining food supplies of wild rice from the local tribes Draper, 1903). As Europeans arrived in Wisconsin, they changed the ways in which the land was used. Spring log drives gouged shallow river and lake beds, disrupting the seed bank. Wetlands were drained for farming. Dams changed water levels. While the new settlers may have appreciated wild rice areas as good waterfowl hunting, they didn’t understand the growing requirements of this annual grass (Jenks and Papers, 1898). Without proper care, wild rice habitat shrank. As the state became more urbanized, people became less knowledgeable about the environment. Wild rice was seen as a weed that interfered with motorboating, getting tangled in the prop (which, incidentally, uprooted and killed the plant). More rice beds were destroyed as vacationing landowners cleared shorelines for docks and beaches.

It still persists. There are still people grateful for the nourishment provided by the grain; the serenity of a paddle through tall stalks; the intricate web of interdependence of birds, insects, and fish with the wild rice. I hope that you, too, will come to appreciate wild rice as you learn more about this native Wisconsin plant.

Click on the links at left to learn more about wild rice or to download GIS layers that show the locations of historical and extant populations of Zizania in Wisconsin.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Gary Fewless for “teaching by example” botanical fervor and ethics; Vicki Medland for web design and assistance; Peter David of GLIFWC for support and data access; Emmet Judziewicz for access to the Freckmann Herbarium UW-Stevens Point; Sara Hoot for access to the UW-Milwaukee Herbarium; Neil Luebke for access to the Milwaukee Public Museum Herbarium; Tom Lammers for access to the UW-Oshkosh Herbarium; and Tim Gerber for access to the UW-Lacrosse Herbarium

Literature Cited

Arzigian, C. 2000. Middle woodland and Oneota contexts for wild rice exploitation in southwestern Wisconsin. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.
Egan-Bruhy, K. C. 2001. Crescent Bay Hunt Club (47Je904) Floral Analysis. In Excavations at the Crescent Bay Hunt Club and the Trimborn Farms Sites in Southeastern Wisconsin, edited by R. J. Jeske, pp. 57-60. Southeastern Wisconsin Archaeology Program, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Maawanji'iding: Gathering together - Ojibwe histories & narratives from Wisconsin. 1999. hup!Multimedia: Collinsville, CT www.brain-box.com
For example, see Brunson, A. Memoir of Thomas Pendelton Burnett. In Draper, L C. ed. 1903. Collections of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. pp233-325. or Malhiot, F.V. A Wisconsins Fur-Traders Journal, 1804-05 In Thwaites, R.G. ed. 1910. Collections of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, Vol 19. Pp163- 233. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whc/
Jenks, A. E. Papers, 1898-1899. State Historical Society: Location: Archives Main Stacks; Call Number: Wis Mss BM. Response of Indian Agency Government Farmer to Jenks’ question about how rice starts again if previous crop failed:“from the roots”.

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