Wild rice harvest to challenge Minnesota treaty rights

NISSWA, Minn. — Conservation enforcement officers for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources were stationed near Hole-in-the-day Lake early this morning in anticipation of an unauthorized harvest of wild rice by Chippewa band members who live on treaty lands west of Duluth.

The DNR was notified by a group called the 1855 Treaty Authority that some band members will conduct an “en masse wild rice harvest” some time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday without obtaining DNR licenses.

The act of civil disobedience is meant to challenge Minnesota’s position that band members have no off-reservation hunting, fishing or gathering rights in the northern territory ceded to the federal government in 1855. If members are prosecuted, the Treaty Authority believes it can win its battle in court.

http://www.startribune.com/wild-rice-harvest-to-challenge-minnesota-treaty-rights/323070181/