We’re holding it on February 20th – February 21st on Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, and hope to see you there!

We are calling all speakers!  Please send a brief abstract outlining your ideas, and your contact information to Amanda Henry – amanda.henry@treaty3.ca

• Register here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H8MBXGR

“We, Gaagiidoo-Ikwewag, Treaty #3 Women’s Council, are so excited to announce the launch of the Nibi Portal at the Territorial Planning Unit at Grand Council Treaty # 3. This portal is a new innovative and creative way to search and find local information about Nibi. As Anishinaabekwe, we have a sacred responsibility and authority for Nibi. Nibi is sacred and essential and this portal will capture many of the sacred teachings, songs, stories, legends, lesson plans, artifacts, and observations our people in this territory have about Nibi. We are proud to be part of this journey, to announce this launch, and see the Nibi portal become a reality. On behalf of the GCT#3, Women’s Council, the technicians are to be commended for implementing our vision for this portal.” – Priscilla Simard of Gaagiidoo-Ikwewag

On the Nibi Portal, you will find spaces provided for sharing and learning of experiences and relationships with Nibi, teachings, and educational resources that share the importance of Nibi, and art in various modes from the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3. There are also opportunities within the Nibi Portal that provide connections with others around the world who share like-minded ideals and beliefs about Nibi.

“Anishinaabekwe have a sacred relationship with Nibi and our Treaty #3 Women’s Council have continued to be leaders in fulfilling this responsibility,” said Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh. “I am excited for the release of the Nibi Portal to continue to showcase the work of our Nation in relationship to Nibi. The opportunity to share this knowledge and understanding with everyone across the world and across generations will ensure we continue to protect Nibi for the future”

It is our hope, as Grand Council Treaty #3, that the Nibi Portal supports your sacred, and personal connection and relationship with Nibi and inspires you to continue on this journey with us as we fulfill our responsibilities to Nibi.

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To access and learn more about the Nibi portal, you can find it here: https://nibi.gct3.ca
For more information, please contact Lucas King, Director, Territorial Planning Unit at lucas.king@treaty3.ca

Over 770,000 detections have came from Locke Bay and our Nimay have all survived in an environment where 37 out of 39 Nimay released stayed in our river system!

Through traditional teachings and research to confirm – our Sturgeon Spawn Late May to early June! Some of our Sturgeon have been given names such as The Runner, James Bond, and Gordie Howe!

Gather with our partners in the Autumn to honor our relationships and partnerships while celebrating through ceremony!

Underwater cameras are currently in the pipeline to perform visual inspections on our  Nimay, and with a bit of luck to see the Nimay spawn!

Nuclear Curriculum

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic it has been difficult to go through normal engagement processes to learn about NWMO and Nuclear waste. In order to tackle that, Grand Council Treaty #3 has been working with Narratives Inc. to develop a Nuclear 101 curriculum. The curriculum will be grounded in the seven teachings learned through Elder interviews to guide the curriculum development.

The purpose of the curriculum is to provide information and learning opportunities from a range of sources on Nuclear Energy processes and share teachings from our Treaty #3 Knowledge Keepers on these topics. We hope it will be used by anyone looking to increase their understanding of nuclear science as a whole; and as assistance in informed decision making on major projects like the NWMO Deep Geological Repository. This curriculum is an example of how Anishinaabe principles, teachings and practices can guide our decision making, education and planning.

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin and Decision Making

Grand Council Treaty #3 and NWMO hosted a leadership meeting to discuss and learn about the applications of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin. These discussions led by Ogichidaa and Fred Kelly will inform the drafting of two agreements that will look to ensure application and respect of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin to all projects entering the Treaty #3 Territory.

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin prescribes the manner that the Crown and proponents of projects in Treaty #3 Territory (including NWMO) must engage the Anishinaabe Nation to seek its consent, but is also a way of life for the Anishinaabe in Treaty #3. It is a robust, consensus building,traditional decision-making framework. It respects individual community decision making protocols, engagement processes. It gives a voice to each community.

The objectives of engagement under Manito Aki Inakonigaawin are to:

• Understand the potential effects of the Project on the environment in Treaty 3 Territory and on our rights and interests
• Ensure Treaty 3 are given enough time and information to make an informed decision.Treaty 3 membership has multiple opportunities to participate in the engagement process
• Determine whether the Anishinaabe Nation will provide its consent to the Project and, if so,the conditions of such authorization; and
• If authorization is granted, to provide a basis for negotiating agreements between NWMO and the Anishinaabe Nation to establish a mutually beneficial relationship.

History of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin

At the beginning of time, Saagima Manito gave the Anishinaabe duties and responsibilities to protect, care for and respect the land. These duties were to last forever, in spirit, in breath and in all of life, for all of eternity. The spirit and intent of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin signifies the duty to respect and protect lands that may be effected from over-usage, degradation and unethical processes. Saagima Manito explained the Great Earth Law as a manner of thought, a way of feeling and a way of living. As a teaching, the law is difficult to translate to English, as it is engraved into Anishinaabe ways of life.

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin was officially written and ratified by elders of the Nation of Treaty #3 in 1997. On April 22 and 23, and July 31, 1997, an Elders gathering was held in Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung at Manito Ochi-waan. The elders brought the written law through ceremony, where the spirits approved this law and respectfully petitioned the National Assembly to adopt it as a temporal law of the Nation. In the spring of 1997, a traditional validation process was held through a shaking tent ceremony. Elders and knowledge keepers worked extensively with the
traditional shaker to decide the exact question to ask during the ceremony. This would allow for a clear understanding and the greatest certainty when asking the spirits for guidance in regards to writing the law.

Following this, a 4 day ceremony on Powwow Island commenced. 4 lodges were built in the 4 directions for the written law to go through to be seen by the spirits. The document (mazina’igan) started in the east, and the lodge keeper asked the spirit to scan the document. It then went to the south, west, and north lodges to continue on the process. In the evening of the 4th day, the document was completed its journey through the sweat lodges. It was then brought to the shake tent and was given a message from the spirit, confirming the document and stating it was okay to give it back. This then completed the documents journey through ceremony. The Elders of Treaty #3 ratified the document, then it was taken to the fall Assembly the following morning. The pipe, tobacco, and drum were the traditional tools of governance used in the ceremony.

In October, 1997 Manito Aki Inakonigaawin as a written law was then brought forth to the National Assembly on October 3rd, 1997 where it was accepted and proclaimed and each community within Treaty #3 was asked to give consideration to it according to their own traditional practices. Each community was then tasked with developing BCRs to ascend to the law and also developing their own consultation protocol. The process of writing Manito Aki Inakonigaawin on paper was significant for the Nation as it was an opportunity to have a written record of the law.
Although it is now written in English, the authoritative version of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin lives in ceremony. No human decision is greater than spirit, therefore ceremony is an integral process to following Manito Aki Inakonigaawin.

Jurisdiction of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin

The Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3 has pr-existing jurisdiction that continues to be exercised by the Nation, Grand Council Treaty #3 and communities. Treaty #3 established a shared sovereignty over some matters between the British and the Anishinaabe, therefore it is an important effort to reconcile the preexisting sovereignty of the Anishinaabe with the asserted sovereignty of the Queen and her divisional governments.

The Nation in Treaty #3 exercises preexisting jurisdiction as proper stewards of the land. Since time immemorial, the Creator entrusted the Anishinaabe to care for lands and resources on Turtle Island. The Anishinaabe maintain a spiritual connection to the land and Mother Earth. The 28 communities in Treaty #3 support and guide Grand Council’s efforts to facilitate collective engagement respecting the land and waters, as guided by the principles set out by Manito Aki Inakonigaawin.

The Significance of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin has been an inherent law to Anishinaabe in Treaty #3 territory since time immemorial. The law governs relationships with the land and its inhabitants throughout daily life. This includes:

• Respecting the lands and waters
• Giving offerings to spirits and Creator when you benefit from Mother Earth’s gifts such ashunting, fishing or transportation
• Knowing your rights as a Treaty #3 member and
• Understanding the responsibility as a steward of the land

Since the law was formally written in 1997, it has helped uphold traditional land rights and create a nation based law making process in the territory.

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin is written within and throughout nature – its spirit is within all living things on earth- from you, to the animals, to the trees, and to the air that we breathe. It is the natural law that governs the natural cycles of life. Manito Aki Inakonigaawin has its own spirit, as it itself is also living.

The law is eco-centric, which means the law considers and acknowledges that it’s not only human beings that live on this land, but ALL things on Earth possess spirit and life. Manito Aki Inakonigaawin is based not only on rights – but also on the responsibilities we have as a collective to care for Mother Earth. The law is guided by communities in Treaty #3 territory and supports the collective rights of the Nation as a whole, while affirming jurisdiction of Anishinaabe laws. Manito Aki Inakonigaawin helps to provide a law making process and is centred on the inherent relationship to Mother Earth.

Although the law was given to Anishinaabe people at the beginning of time- it’s important to understand that the responsibility to protect and respect Mother Earth doesn’t solely depend on Anishinaabe people – the law represents the collective duty of us all to protect Mother Earth.

Consultation and Engagement

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin states that there is the right to meaningful engagements and respect for inherent and Treaty rights. It is therefore considered to be unlawful to proceed with developments within Treaty #3 without the proper consent of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3. Any Crown or proponent development/activity that occurs, which may affect natural resources must abide by these rights and roles of the duty to engage with the Nation in Treaty #3. The obligation lies on all associated parties who wish to develop or manage resources within Treaty #3 Territory to abide by Manito Aki Inakonigaawin. As such, MAI is considered a foundational process of mutual respect.

Following Manito Aki Inakonigaawin, it is possible for development to occur with the least amount of uncertainty and conflict. Then, this process has the potential to maximize cooperation and a fair sharing of economic opportunities throughout the Nation.

External Implications of Manito Aki Inakonigaawin

Grand Council Treaty # 3 is the traditional government of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty # 3.By treaty with Her Majesty in 1873, the Nation shared its duties, responsibilities and protected its rights respecting 55,000 square miles of territory. The Anishinaabe Nation did not surrender any rights of self-government by signing of the Treaty, instead believed the signing to be a mutual respect and sharing of the lands and resources. Therefore, the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty #3 continue to exercise its traditional government.

The Canadian government recognizes that the Constitution Act, 1982, supported by recent Supreme Court of Canada, establishes that the jurisdiction of Anishinaabe government continues to exist. With that said, the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty # 3 maintains rights to all lands and water in the Treaty # 3 territory commonly referred to Northwestern Ontario and south-eastern Manitoba. Accordingly, any development in the Treaty # 3 Territory such as, but not limited to, forestry, mining, hydro, highways and pipeline systems that operate in the Treaty# 3 Territory require the consent, agreement and participation of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty # 3.

In exercising its authority, the Grand Council expresses concern with proponents (corporations,developers etc.) who carry out business activities that may result in destruction to the environment or interfere with the traditional activities of individual or collective members of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty # 3.

Manito Aki Inakonigaawin states that all resource developments should be done in honour with Anishinaabe rights and in respect to the natural resources. Therefore, Grand Council Treaty # 3 recognizes the potential for adverse effects in regards to exercising inherent and treaty rights that may be impacted through certain business activities. In order to eliminate or minimize these adverse effects, the Grand Council of Treaty #3 is prepared to hold discussions, engagements and potential negotiations with proponents, governments, and other industry.

In accordance with Manito Aki Inakonigaawin process, proponents in Treaty #3 are required to contact Grand Council Treaty #3 to seek specific Treaty # 3 authorizations, which will provide clear authority to conduct their business ventures and create legal certainty to legitimize these developments in Treaty # 3 Territory. These processes do not infringe on the rights of individual communities and it is recognized they have their own authorization and engagement protocols. It is the goal of the Grand Council to establish strong working relationships with any proponent who respects Anishinaabe laws, values and principles on the environment.

As directed by recent Supreme Court’s rulings, proponents must satisfy Anishinaabe law under the Constitution Act of 1982. The Court states that aboriginal people must be consulted properly about effects on their inherent and treaty rights. Manito Aki Inakonigaawin, The Great Earth Law of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty # 3, provides the traditionally-ratified process to frame these discussions.

NWMO Site Selection Process Update

As for an update on the NWMO site selection process, the steps are as follows:

1. Volunteer sites across Canada – (Completed)
2. Site Selection Process – (Current) – Sites across Canada are evaluated. You need a suitable physical site as well as a willing host for the site. There are two remaining sites in the site selection process. One in Treaty #3, being the Ignace location in which Ignace and Wabigoon Lake are the potential hosts
   a. This site selection process and the engagement done within is not part of consultation but general learning about a potential site and project
3. Site Selection Date – Estimated for end of 2023 – Final site will be selected
4. Regulatory/Environmental Assessment of the proposed site
   a. This is where the regulatory review of the project will take place, including formal consultation with the communities involved to figure out if the project can go forward.
5. Project construction
6. Project life span

Conclusion

Overall, Grand Council Treaty #3 continues forward with the position of informed decision making. Grand Council Treaty #3 will work with each of the Treaty #3 communities to share feedback and information on the NWMO process and ensure that the Anishinaabe Nation of Treaty #3 is positioned in the best possible place when a decision on this matter becomes necessary after the site selection process. We will continue to build tools and capacity within the Nation that will outlast the project life cycle and fulfill the duties of stewards of the land in guidance from Manito Aki Inakonigaawin and the Treaty #3 Nibi Declaration principles.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime at tpu@treaty3.ca / 807.548.4214

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• Nuclear Waste Management Organization and GCT#3 Involvement (539 downloads)

Since the end of the 2021 field season, our team has been hard at work with data analysis and interpretation. PhD student Samantha Mehltretter has been analyzing the data collected from water level loggers on the Upper Winnipeg River. The water level loggers were placed on the River in May and pulled in September, so there is a lot of data to sift through. Dr. Andrea Bradford is offering her expertise by reviewing Samantha’s preliminary analysis, providing guidance and oversight. We also have plans to test sediment and manomin seed samples that were collected during the field season. Our team is eager to see what this data can teach us about manomin growth.

University of Guelph (UofG) members of the Manomin Project have secured funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to investigate the colonial placement of water gauges in Treaty #3. Dr. Brittany Luby, Samantha Mehltretter, and URA Jane Mariotti are currently drafting their article on the subject. We are excited to see where this project is headed in the new year!

After months of hard work, the Manomin Anthology is officially with UBC Press! The draft is being reviewed by our editor before we can move forward with publication. We would like to thank Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, Anthology contributors, and our UofG team members for their hard work and dedication to this project.

We are excited to announce that we have hired an Indigenous marketing company to maintain our social media accounts. Follow us @manominproject on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to stay up to date on project developments between quarterly newsletters.

Meet the Team – Jane Mariotti

Meet Jane Mariotti! Jane is an Ecology student at the University of Guelph. She is currently in her fourth year of her Bachelor’s of Environmental Science degree.

Jane first started working for the Manomin Project in the fall of 2020. Since then, Jane has co-authored and edited several publications with Dr. Brittany Luby, including their “Review of Turner, Plants, People, and Places” Alongside her writing work, she is also helping Sam analyze hydrometric gauge placement in Treaty #3 territory. Jane’s work truly shows just how interdisciplinary the Manomin Project is!

“Working with the Manomin Project Team has taught me so much about working with Indigenous plants and what we have to learn from them. It’s shown me the power of collaborating with multiple disciplines to gain a more complete perspective on issues,” said Jane.

We’d like to thank Jane for her hard work and dedication to the Manomin Project. We are so glad to have her on our team!

Manomin Fun Facts

There are many ways to cook Manomin, including like popcorn! You can coat Manomin in oil, heat it in a covered pan, and listen to it pop! The result is a delicious, crunchy snack filled with vitamins, fiber and protein.

2021 Highlights

With the end of the year quickly approaching, we wanted to reflect on everything that the Manomin Project team has accomplished in 2021.

In March, the UofG researchers and Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation (NAN) published “Beyond Institutional Ethics: Anishinaabe Worldviews and the Development of a Culturally Sensitive Field Protocol for Aquatic Plant Research.” This journal article outlines the gaps in the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) and emphasizes the importance of creating a culturally sensitive field protocol when collaborating with other-than-human beings in research. Click here to read the journal article.

Upriver Media Inc. created an 8-minute movie about the history of hydroelectric development and environmental change in Treaty #3. You can watch the movie on YouTube.

In April, Dr. Brittany Luby taught a 6-week course on the history of Treaty #3 to a group of grade 11 and 12 students in the Kenora Catholic District School Board. Chief Lorraine Cobiness joined the class in June. This initiative aligned with Elders’ requests that UofG researchers collect and share information on Manomin with Treaty #3 Youth.

Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation and the Manomin Project opened the 2021 field season in May with a Spring Feast. NAN’s Consultation Coordinator Josh prepared and distributed gifts of Manomin to attendees on behalf of the Manomin Project. Following the feast, our team took to the manomin fields.

During the field season, Samantha and URA Elli visited Anishinaabe-Aki a total of three times, once in May, August, and September. They gathered data on seed head counts, stalk density, water quality parameters, and Manomin’s conditions to better understand how environmental conditions impact manomin yield. It was a successful season, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Anishinaabe-Aki.

Thanks to the support of our granting agencies, we bought a boat for field work! Our square stern canoe is a fast and reliable method of transportation during the field season. We look forward to taking it back out onto the water during the 2022 field season.

New Publications

We published a new blog post! You can read “Defending Manomin: The Advocacy Work of Winona LaDuke” by past URA Margaret Lehman on the Network in Canadian History & Environment
(NiCHE). Click here to read the blog.

What’s Next

The Manomin Project is excited for the new year ahead. The new year brings with it many opportunities and exciting projects. The Manomin Project is dedicated to cultural revitalization and crop restoration. With that in mind, our team has started looking for possible off-river restoration sites. We are hopeful that we will be able to identify a potential site and begin manomin restoration in the near future.

Samantha plans to write a piece on manomin decline on the Upper Winnipeg River. To do so, she is gathering and analyzing documents from the early 1800s to the present. She hopes that the documents will reveal trends surrounding manomin growth (and its decline). We are looking forward to how this chapter of her dissertation develops!

Our students are busy with several projects. Jane is helping Sam analyze hydrometric gauge placement in Treaty #3 territory using ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel. Emma is advancing our communication strategy for our team by creating monthly updates for NAN Chief and Council and quarterly updates for our stakeholders.

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• The Manomin Project - Winter 2021 Update (1681 downloads)

Hunter was selected as one of their recent top graduates from the program to promote this important initiative. The level of competence Hunter is displaying daily is absolutely astounding. He is now our full time Water Technician and is expecting to receive his Level 1 Certification soon.

Bagged lunch will be provided and we encourage women to wear skirts.  Signs are welcomed.

You can post pictures using a public setting on social media and the hashtag #treaty3nibiwalk.

We ask that everyone follow COVID-19 safety protocols when gathering.  Wear your masks, stay 2 meters apart, and sanitize often.

Our receivers have been actively tracking any of the sturgeon that have swam by. Our future plans are to install underwater cameras in areas that have the highest concentration of sturgeon in order to give a better visual idea of sturgeon spawning grounds.

Below is a video of the original release back in 2017.

The materials developed in the Treaty #3 Nibi Curriculum will be adaptable to In person or virtual mediums of learning as well as groups/classrooms or for individuals whom want to learn on their own.  The materials in the Curriculum will address both Indigenous knowledge systems and non-Indigenous systems (including governance and scientific information) and compiled materials to date will be shared with the successful applicant. Written material will be made available on a website and may be shared through printed forms as well.

The Territorial Planning Unit, Decolonizing Water and Treaty #3 Women’s Council are looking to continue the development of supporting materials and the implementation of the Treaty #3 Nibi Declaration through the Nibi Curriculum.

View link to learn more: http://gct3.ca/jobs/rfp-treaty3-nibi-curriculum/

Please submit proposals to:

Lucas King
Director, Territorial Planning Unit
Grand Council Treaty #3
Lucas.king@treaty3.ca

From June to August, members of the Manomin Project participated in a reading group. They met bi-weekly to discuss selected readings on decolonizing methodologies. We are grateful to have had this time to deepen our understanding of the topic and we look forward to resuming these discussions in summer 2022.

An important part of the Manomin Project is documenting manomin conditions in our photo diaries. This is typically done by band members from Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation. This season band member Guy Henry and UofG researcher Brittany Luby travelled together to photograph ancestral fields. These photographs will be extremely helpful in understanding how environmental conditions impact Manomin.

Since the summer solstice, PhD candidate Sam and URA Elli have visited the Winnipeg River twice, once in mid-August and once in early September. While visiting in August, they gathered data on seed counts, stalk density, and water quality parameters. Later in September, Sam and Elli took sediment samples, observed Manomin’s conditions, and retrieved water level loggers that had been deployed since May. They also tried to collect ripe manomin seed samples for analysis in the lab, but a storm left few available for collection. Nevertheless, these visits have allowed our team to gather more data on how environmental conditions impact manomin yields.

After renting boats for the past two field seasons, our team decided to purchase a boat of our own! Thanks to our funders, we have purchased a square stern canoe with a 2.5hp motor. Having a dedicated canoe for the Manomin Project will be extremely helpful for future field work on the Winnipeg River. be extremely helpful for future field work on the Winnipeg River.

Meet the Team: Samantha Mehltretter

Samantha, also known as Sam, is a key member of the Manomin Project. She first started working for the Manomin Project as a Research Assistant while completing her Masters of Applied Science degree in Water Resources Engineering at the University of Guelph. After completing her master’s degree in 2019, Sam stayed at UofG to pursue Water Resources Engineering as a Doctoral student.

Now entering the third year of her PhD, Sam coordinates our field work from beginning to end with Chief and Council. Sam plays a key role in data collection and analysis. Her findings will be written up in her dissertation.

“I continue to enjoy my doctoral research with the Manomin Project and feel I’m continually being challenged to consider different perspectives and possible methods to approach the research problem,” said Sam. We are proud to have such dedicated members like Sam a part of our team!

Manomin Fun Facts

Not only is Manomin crucial to many people’s diets, but it is also integral to the diets of many waterfowl! Many birds that reside in wetlands rely on manomin beds for feeding before their fall migration. This includes common loons, great blue herons, and the elusive sora rails – small chicken-like birds that reside in wetlands.

Decolonizing Our Minds

In June, members of the Manomin Project began their group reading discussions. They met twice a month to discuss selected readings and deepen their understanding of decolonizing methodologies. These meetings carried on until the end of August.

Over these weeks, our team members read many wonderful articles and learned a great deal about how Western and Indigenous methodologies can co-exist simultaneously. One reading that stood out to our group was “‘Two-Eyed Seeing’: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management.”

Two-Eyed Seeing, as described by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, is “learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing, and to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all.”2 In short, both knowledge systems are used “in parallel to produce an enriched picture and mutual understanding” of the topic of choice.

Those who are interested in learning more about how Indigenous and Western knowledge systems can co-exist may read the article here.

New Publications

We are excited to announce the publication of a new blog post on NiCHE (Network in Canadian History & Environment)! “Repeat Photography: A Method for Recording Change Over Time,” was written by former Undergraduate Research Assistant Gabrielle Goldhar with Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation.

In this blog post, Gabrielle explains how our team uses repeat photography to document manomin growth at sites selected by NAN’s Elders. These photographs are then catalogued in the Manomin Project’s photo diaries for analysis. You can read the article now on our website.

What’s Next

The Manomin Project is looking forward to an exciting and busy fall season. Many of our tasks will be administration, analysis and education-focused since the 2021 field season has ended.

Dr. Andrea Bradford is completing administration work for the Manomin Project. She is focusing on maintaining and documenting our budget, as well as ensuring that the team stays on task to meet its goals.

Dr. Luby has many exciting projects in the works. She is in contract negotiations with Groundwood, an indie Canadian publisher, about publishing an educational children’s book about Manomin.

Sam is entering the third year of her doctoral program. She is currently researching and writing a paper on the placement of water gauges in Treaty #3. This project was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Sam will also be analyzing data from the 2021 field season and synthesizing historic data to understand manomin growth on the Upper Winnipeg River over the past 150 years.

Our students are completing many projects. Maggie will continue to manage our social media presence as our Social Media Manager. Emma is advancing our communication strategy and assisting with administration tasks. Jane has returned from her summer leave and will resume her work on the Manomin Project. Elli is wrapping up her time with the Manomin Project as she enters the final year of her engineering degree. We’d like to thank Elli for her contributions to the Manomin Project over the past year and a half – the 2020 and 2021 field seasons wouldn’t have been the same without her.

The Manomin Project is a cooperative research program led by the University of Guelph and Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation. This newsletter reflects our responsibility and commitment to knowledge sharing.

A signing ceremony was held last Tuesday welcoming Wabauskang into the Miitigoog/Miisun partnership. The signing now allows the First Nation a seat at the table and a voice in what happens to the forest around the community.

“It’s a very glorious and honorable day today because of the signing. I didn’t do it for myself, I’m doing it for our people. It gives us a grip on things. Today I feel we have something, and I feel a good belonging to this organization,” said Wabauskang Chief Bill Petiquan

“Our overall vision 14 years ago was the vision to be a part of the decision-making in taking care of our forests. The broader vision was to always form partnerships. So we’re here to celebrate all of our success,” says Miitigoog President Lorraine Cobiness

The benefit of the signing is it now gives Miitigoog and Miisun the ability to manage the forest in and around the Wabauskang First Nation community.

“Today is a tremendous day, having more First Nation communities just allows us to better manage the forest, to better understand the values that are out there, and ensure that we’re maintaining a sustainable and healthy forest on the Kenora and Whiskey Jack Forests,” said Erik Holmstrom Vice President of Miitigoog

Petiquan added that with the signing he hopes that he will be able to have more control of where the cutting is done.

“We’re looking at something like building our own log cabins and keeping the forest and everything that we do within our community and within our Treaty 3 area. It’s important,” noted Petiquan

The addition of Wabauskang First Nation now marks the eighth First Nation community committed to the Miitigoog/Miisun partnership. The other First Nation communities involved are Dalles, Whitefish Bay, Onigaming, Shoal Lake 40, Northwest Angle #33, Big Island, and Wabaseemoong. The working partnership also includes local timber harvesting companies such as Weyerhaeuser.

Miisun is a 100 per cent First Nations Owned Integrated Resource Management Company based in Kenora, on Treaty 3. It was developed to promote First Nations opportunities in Forest Management. Miisun has an evergreen management agreement for the Kenora Forest with Miitigoog.

Miitigoog holds the Sustainable Forest License (SFL) for the Kenora and Whiskey Jack Forest.

Under the Miitigoog General Partner model, First Nations and industry share in the management responsibilities for the Kenora Forest with Miisun attending to monitoring, planning, and enforcement of the sustainable forestry plan.

Although there is presently little danger posed to Niisaachewan, forest fires are unpredictable and can change at any moment.  We advise that all households pack an emergency bag of clothes and toiletries for each member of your household and leave it in your vehicle or by your front door.

We also advise that people stay indoors as much as possible due to the dangers of smoke inhalation.

You can view the Ontario Government’s Fire Map website for the precise location.

We have secured new funding to increase our communication capacities! The Manomin Project has received $15,000 from the Small Grants program led by the Guelph Institute for Environmental Research (GIER) to finance the creation of newsletters like this one. This funding will help us advance our communication strategy and diversify our knowledge mobilization efforts.

As part of the Manomin Project’s outreach efforts, Elders on the Manomin Project encouraged University of Guelph (UofG) researchers to collect and share information on Manomin with Treaty #3 Youth. In April, Dr. Brittany Luby began teaching grade 11 and 12 students at the Kenora Catholic District School Board on the history of Treaty #3. Each week, students would read a treaty record and have an open discussion about the history of Treaty #3. Chief Lorraine Cobiness joined the class in June. She encouraged Youth to connect with community and to deepen their cultural teachings outside of the classroom.

As the weather grew warmer, our First Nation partner, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation (NAN), opened the 2021 field season at their Spring Feast. NAN’s Consultation Coordinator Josh prepared gifts of Manomin on behalf of the Manomin Project. These gifts were distributed to attendees at the Spring Feast to open the season in a good way.

PhD student Samantha Mehltretter and Undergraduate Research Assistant Elli Pattrick arrived at the Winnipeg River mid-May. They spent two weeks in Anishinaabe-Aki meeting with Elders, visiting the river, delineating perennial vegetation, and collecting sediment samples. They also deployed water level loggers and measured water quality parameters. These measurements will help determine how Manomin is impacted by environmental conditions.

Meet the Team: Margaret Lehman

Meet Margaret Lehman! Margaret, better known as Maggie, is a long-time member of the Manomin Project.

Maggie first started working as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Manomin Project in Summer 2019. She started when she was in the third year of her undergraduate degree majoring in English and History at the University of Guelph.

Maggie supports the Manomin Project by managing our social media platforms, developing our content, and increasing our public reach. This is an important task for information dissemination and sharing what we have learned from our project.

“The Manomin Project continues to teach me the value and importance of community engagement and partnership, as well as demonstrating what interdisciplinary research can accomplish,” said Maggie.

We’d like to thank Maggie for her dedication to the Manomin Project throughout her undergraduate degree. We are thrilled to announce that she will be staying on the project while she completes her Master of Arts in History at the University of Guelph.

What’s Next

The arrival of summer has caused great excitement among our team. We have many plans for the next several months.

After a great start to the field season, our team is excited to continue our work on the Winnipeg River. In July, Brittany and Josh will delineate Manomin stands to estimate the approximate extent of manomin growth at each ancestral manomin site.

Dr. Brittany Luby is coordinating with Grand Council Treaty #3 to interview Elders and manomin harvesters from neighbouring communities. The knowledge we gain from these conversations may help inform future crop restoration activities by teaching us how other communities cared for Manomin in the region.

Our team is keeping busy as we prepare for the summer ahead. Dr. Andrea Bradford is searching for more funding opportunities. Sam and Elli are post-processing the data collected in May and beginning to analyse it. Dr. Brittany Luby and Maggie are editing the Manomin Anthology to send for publication with UBC Press. Maggie is also continuing to run our social media accounts (@manominproject on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook). Emma is advancing the communication strategy for our team. Jane is taking the summer off after contributing to a small SSHRC funded project on the colonial placement of water gauges in Treaty #3. We wish her a restful summer and are looking forward to her return in the fall.

Manomin Fun Facts

Did you know that a single Manomin plant has both male (stamens) and female (pistils) reproductive organs? This means that the wind-pollinated plant needs to avoid self-pollination by flowering at different periods of time. The female flowers bloom first as small white flowers during late July. Yellow and pink male flowers bloom 3-4 days later. While this does help reduce self-pollination, it can still occur.

Decolonizing Our Minds

The Manomin Project team recently began “Subaltern Speaks Sundays” to recognize the need to listen to a diversity of voices and decolonize our minds and research. On Sundays we share resources that members of our team have found helpful on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Our first recommendation was “An Indigenous Research Methodology That Employs Anishinaabek Elders, Language Speakers and Women’s Knowledge for Sustainable Water Governance” (2020) by Susan Chiblow. Chiblow discusses the importance of decolonizing research methodologies in relation to sustainable water governance.

“My relationship to N’bi [water] and the lands has significantly influenced my identity. […] Many Elders simply state that water is a living entity or water is alive, with its own personalities, and water is life. Understanding that N’bi has its own agency and can govern itself is sustainable water governance” – Susan Chiblow

Interested readers can find Chiblow’s complete article here.

New Publications

As mentioned in our Spring Equinox Update, the Manomin Project is creating an anthology! This anthology will make information on Manomin more readily accessible to interested readers. Currently, members of our team are editing the anthology before sending it away to our publisher, UBC Press, for review. We are excited by the prospect of creating an anthology and hope that we can share it with our stakeholders soon.

Recent Events

Before the busy field season picked up, Brittany Luby and Chief Cobiness were invited to speak about the history of the Winnipeg River on Nature’s Past, a Canadian environmental history podcast run by the Network in Canadian History & Environment (NiCHE). The episode entitled “Water and Anishinaabe History” is available for streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Download PDF

• The Manomin Project Summer 2021 Update (1623 downloads)

 

The Manomin Project is a cooperative research program led by the University of Guelph and Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation. This newsletter reflects our responsibility and commitment to knowledge sharing.

Forest Biomass includes all parts of the tree, not only the trunk… but also the bark, the branches, the needles or leaves, and even the roots.  Biomass can be converted into solid, liquid, or gaseous bio-fuels that can then be burned for energy or used as fuel substitutes for transportation or industrial processes.

Please register with Chelsea Jack at chelsea.jack@treaty3.ca to receive Zoom details.

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• CORDA 2021-2022 Application Package (2048 downloads)

We encourage interested applicants to start their application early to ensure they can complete the application form and obtain the required supporting documents prior to the submission deadline.

If you have questions, please contact me via e-mail as I continue to work from home until further notice.

Sincerely,

Jill Stevens
Secretariat
Canada Ontario Resource Development Agreement

123 Paudash Street
Hiawatha, ON   K9J 0E6

Ph: 705-295-7116
Fx: 705-295-7144

The Manomin Research Project seeks to understand what is causing Manomin loss in traditional harvesting areas and to restore the fields. 

We, the Elders, recognize the damage that mechanical harvesting can have on the study. 

We recognize that mechanical harvesting may limit the amount of Manomin that is reseeded and therefore limit future growth. 

We are going to support the Manomin Research Project by recognizing the negative impacts of mechanical harvesting on research and the potential impacts on field health. It is our hope that this ban will help us understand Manomin loss and restore the fields for future generations OR allow us to gather reliable evidence for future claims for compensation for lost Manomin. 

We recognize Manomin harvesting as a sacred Inherent Right protected by Paypom and we will support and encourage traditional harvesting activities by canoe. Therefore, as Elders of Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, we support the efforts of Chief and Council in banning mechanical harvesting.

Respectfully and in unity – NAN Elders

• Download Declaration (PDF)

• Daily 10 m³/s decrease: 0.8 cm above the Dalles and 0.7 cm above Throat Rapids
• Total 60 m³/s decrease: 4.5 cm above the Dalles and 4.3 cm above Throat Rapids 

As some already know, there are moderate drought conditions in many parts of the Lake of the Woods basin, including upstream areas where much of the lake’s inflow stems from.  Flows throughout the basin are below normal for this time of year and the lake level has started to decline over the past week.  With these flow reductions, the LWCB are hoping to maintain storage in the lake and ensure moderate flows on the Winnipeg River for the near to long term future if dry conditions persist into the rest of the summer and the fall.  Hopefully, these smaller daily reductions will more closely resemble naturally declining rivers in the basin.

If you have any concerns with this plan or any feedback to provide contact:

Alexandra Lavictoire, P.Eng.
Water Resources Engineer
Lake of the Woods Secretariat
Direct: 819-420-7458
Toll-Free: 1-800-661-5922
www.lwcb.ca