Minnesota Tribe to Assert Wild Rice Harvesting, DNR Sends Warning

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A group of Chippewa Indians has notified Gov. Mark Dayton's administration that it plans to harvest wild rice without state licenses to assert rights the members believe they hold under an 1855 treaty that ceded a large part of northern Minnesota to the federal government, drawing a warning Tuesday from the state Department of Natural Resources.

They plan to gather wild rice on Hole-in-the-Day Lake in Nisswa on Aug. 27 and are urging conservation officers not to issue citations or seize their wild rice or harvesting equipment, Frank Bibeau, an attorney for the 1855 Treaty Authority, which is organizing the event, said by phone Tuesday.

The group is independent of the state's tribal governments and includes members of the federally recognized Leech Lake, White Earth and Mille Lacs bands, and the non-recognized Sandy Lake Band, Bibeau said. Its chairman is Arthur ``Archie'' LaRose, secretary-treasurer of the Leech Lake Band, who wrote to Dayton Aug. 7 to notify him of the harvest plans.

http://www.keyc.com/story/29834254/minnesota-tribe-to-assert-wild-rice-harvesting-dnr-sends-warning