Wetland Tradition

By: Michelle Gonzalez

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Members of the Bad River Band fear threats to sacred wild rice harvesting as new mining begins in Northern Wisconsin.

The slender canoe slowly snakes through the water of the Kakagon Bad River Sloughs, just off Lake Superior. The sloughs looks like a large lake surrounded by marshland.

One person stands in the canoe slowly pushing the boat with a long pole while another sits, gently tapping a cedar stick on the bent green stalk.

A gentle and unmistakable sound beats.

Shh-shhh, shh-shhh. Pause. Shh-shhh, shh-shhh. Pause. Shh-shhh, shh-shhh.

Wet green kernels fall from the ricing stalk and gather in the bottom of the canoe.

Shh-shhh, shh-shhh. Pause. Shh-shhh, shh-shhh.

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