Thursday, May 28, 2026

Photo courtesy Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission / Facebook

All eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin have seats on a new committee aimed at protecting wild rice.

Chuck Quirmbach reports.

Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) has announced his 24 appointees to the Wild Rice Stewardship Council.

One member, Gloria Waabigwan Wiggins (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), works for the group Wisconsin Native Vote.

Wiggins also keeps up a tribal tradition, protected by a 1983 federal court ruling, of gathering wild rice in the ceded territory of Northern Wisconsin.

“I’ve been harvesting wild rice, manoomin, with my husband for say, the last 9-10 years. Our powwow, our celebration of manoomin, is in August. So that’s a very important event for our community.”

Wiggins says wild rice is also part of a sacred migration story for the Anishinabe, Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region.

But tribal and state officials report low production of wild rice in recent years, due to factors like windstorms and very heavy rainfall, and long-standing threats like water pollution and excessive waves from boats.

Another member of the new Stewardship Council, Eric McLester, helps direct environmental policy for the Oneida Nation. He says the big picture concern is climate change.

“The amount of rain, water levels. It’s important to not have huge increases or decreases in water levels. Drought certainly impacts the wild rice beds.”

McLester says the Oneida have restored about 35 acres of wetlands for wild rice production in recent years. He hopes the tribal members on the wild rice council can share best practices for the resource.

It’s also possible the committee will propose new regulations to protect wild rice.

A First Nations family in Canada is demanding answers after 24-year-old Jaali Sutherland-Weenie died during childbirth after reportedly being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia while 36 weeks pregnant.

Family members say Sutherland-Weenie, from Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, sought medical care in the days leading up to her death and raised concerns about symptoms linked to the dangerous pregnancy complication.

According to the Mayo Clinic, pre-eclampsia causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and can quickly become life-threatening for both mother and baby if not closely monitored and treated.

According to relatives, Sutherland-Weenie first went to a hospital in Rosthern before being transferred to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital and later to the labor and delivery unit at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, where she died on April 26 after giving birth to her daughter.

Her death is now drawing attention from Indigenous advocates and community members who say Indigenous women continue to face inequities in maternal health care and are too often dismissed when reporting pain or complications.

Loved ones are calling for accountability and a full review into what happened. Community members have also taken to social media to share condolences and call for better protections for Indigenous mothers navigating the health care system.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says a review is underway.

Blayne Morin, Sutherland-Weenie’s partner, said during a news conference held at Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan earlier this week, he plans to attend her graduation ceremony next month to accept her degree on her behalf.

Morin says the couple wanted to build a better life for their daughter than the ones they experienced growing up.

“The family and I will be attending her congregation next month, taking her degree, and we planned so much for our baby before she made her appearance here. We didn’t want her to grow up like how we did, breaking the intergenerational trauma.”

Sutherland-Weenie leaves behind a newborn daughter and a grieving family now hoping her story raises awareness about the warning signs of pre-eclampsia and the importance of timely medical care.