Fond du Lac Band Restores Wild rice In Minnesota

ST. PAUL (AP) - An American Indian tribe is working to restore wild rice to five eastern Minnesota lakes.

The work is being done by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The band is trying to mimic the hydrology that existed in reservation lakes before it was disrupted by canals.

The government built the canals in the early 1900s in hopes of draining the land for farming. But the change caused some areas to stop regularly producing rice.

The band has put in a holding pond above Deadfish Lake and a water control structure. Other lakes needed to be cleared of aquatic vegetation that was crowding the rice.

Wild rice holds special cultural significance to the Ojibwe bands.