The Gun Lake Tribe of Pottawatomi Indians will present the 24-minute Rhino Media documentary film, “Mnomen|Wild Rice,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9 at the Wealthy Theatre, 130 Wealthy St SE, Grand Rapids Mich
There will be singing and drumming before the film, which is open to the public free of charge.
The Gun Lake Tribe contracted Rhino Media, based in Kalamazoo, to develop a documentary of tribal members harvesting “mnomen,” the Pottawatomi word for wild rice. The documentary features tribal members harvesting, processing and cooking wild rice in the traditional ways of the Tribe’s ancestors. Tribal members discuss the cultural significance of wild rice to the Pottawatomi past, present and future.The Tribe’s Environmental Department staff discuss the importance of wild rice to the environment. The plant has virtually disappeared from West Michigan over the last few decades due to a number of environmental factors. Much of the documentary was filmed in other areas of Michigan where wild rice is more plentiful.
A reseeding effort is under way to bring the plant back to West Michigan. Several environmental groups are contributing to this effort to re-establish healthy wild rice beds in our waterways.
The documentary is part of an overall wild rice restoration effort funded by a federal grant by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative program.
