Since writing this assignment I've thought more about some ethical
questions that it brought up. There are two issues that I see: planting into
wild areas, and cultivating a plant that some indigenous people feel
rather possessive over. I'll deal with the latter in my next post,
but for now, here's...
1) Planting wild rice in wild areas
Generally speaking, anyone with brains and respect for nature wants to leave wild areas untouched, or as untouched as possible. If you're going to plant wild rice, I think ideally you'd do it into bodies of water that you've created yourself. As long as you could create a spot with a steady flow of water, ponds and even swales seem like they could be possible sites. (And ideally, there would have been little or no natural life before you create that body of water — e.g. a manmade pool or lawn).
On the other hand, I for
one would be tempted to try and sow some wild rice if I had access to stream, river or lakefront property
with the right conditions — including basically 'wild' and public waterways.
Would this be inappropriate?
I don't think it has to be. It doesn't seem likely that wild rice could ever qualify as an 'invasive species.' It is native to Canada, and though its homeland seems to be Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, it has certainly been naturalized to the Ottawa River watershed.
Also, wild rice spreads very slowly. The only significant natural way its seed is spread is by water currents. There is no real way for it to get upstream, or across land — which is why there are often wild-rice-free waterways right next to other waterways with significant stands. As an annual, it is often out-competed by perennial reeds, cattails, bulrushes, and lily pads, who don't have to re-establish themselves each year.
Also, the Ojibwe that anthropologist Thomas Vennum describes in his book are reluctant to plant wild rice — they see doing so as unnatural. But they also have stories about which ancestors planted which stands. And they generally hold that that most of the rice in their territory — which basically corresponds to the wild rice's 'homeland,' as described above — was planted by them.
Meanwhile, William Dore documents many stands that have been planted by settlers in his book. It seems then, that most currently-existant wild rice stands were originally planted by humans.
But it would still be important to really know the spot you're trying to plant, and the wild rice plant itself (i.e. follow the first principle of permaculture). How would introducing wild rice into this ecosystem change it? Could you minimize the impact, ensuring that there was still habitat for all the pre-existing plants and animals?
Further to this, do you have what biologist William Dore calls 'open habitat' – spots that are regularly disturbed, so that perennial ecosystems cannot become well-established there? (These are wild rice's natural habitat — examples that he gives in his book on wild rice, which I quote in my assignment, include the "soil of deltaic deposits, flood-eroded beaches, drowned land, and especially, soft silty bottoms").
So do you have what I'm tempted to call 'open open habitat' — open habitat like Dore describes that hasn't already being colonized by other annuals? This would be the ideal place to plant wild rice.
Even if you have 'open habitat' that has been disturbed by a one-time event, wild rice might make a good pioneer species, that will help with the transition back to a perennial ecosystem.
In any case, when dealing with basically wild systems, it might be good to not only start but stay small and slow.
1) Planting wild rice in wild areas
Generally speaking, anyone with brains and respect for nature wants to leave wild areas untouched, or as untouched as possible. If you're going to plant wild rice, I think ideally you'd do it into bodies of water that you've created yourself. As long as you could create a spot with a steady flow of water, ponds and even swales seem like they could be possible sites. (And ideally, there would have been little or no natural life before you create that body of water — e.g. a manmade pool or lawn).
Would this be inappropriate?
I don't think it has to be. It doesn't seem likely that wild rice could ever qualify as an 'invasive species.' It is native to Canada, and though its homeland seems to be Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, it has certainly been naturalized to the Ottawa River watershed.
Also, wild rice spreads very slowly. The only significant natural way its seed is spread is by water currents. There is no real way for it to get upstream, or across land — which is why there are often wild-rice-free waterways right next to other waterways with significant stands. As an annual, it is often out-competed by perennial reeds, cattails, bulrushes, and lily pads, who don't have to re-establish themselves each year.
Also, the Ojibwe that anthropologist Thomas Vennum describes in his book are reluctant to plant wild rice — they see doing so as unnatural. But they also have stories about which ancestors planted which stands. And they generally hold that that most of the rice in their territory — which basically corresponds to the wild rice's 'homeland,' as described above — was planted by them.
Meanwhile, William Dore documents many stands that have been planted by settlers in his book. It seems then, that most currently-existant wild rice stands were originally planted by humans.
But it would still be important to really know the spot you're trying to plant, and the wild rice plant itself (i.e. follow the first principle of permaculture). How would introducing wild rice into this ecosystem change it? Could you minimize the impact, ensuring that there was still habitat for all the pre-existing plants and animals?
Further to this, do you have what biologist William Dore calls 'open habitat' – spots that are regularly disturbed, so that perennial ecosystems cannot become well-established there? (These are wild rice's natural habitat — examples that he gives in his book on wild rice, which I quote in my assignment, include the "soil of deltaic deposits, flood-eroded beaches, drowned land, and especially, soft silty bottoms").
So do you have what I'm tempted to call 'open open habitat' — open habitat like Dore describes that hasn't already being colonized by other annuals? This would be the ideal place to plant wild rice.
Even if you have 'open habitat' that has been disturbed by a one-time event, wild rice might make a good pioneer species, that will help with the transition back to a perennial ecosystem.
In any case, when dealing with basically wild systems, it might be good to not only start but stay small and slow.
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