Recent comments from Governor Dayton suggest is siding with mining industry and raising limits on sulfate emissions in Minnesota water ways.
Scientific research has shown high levels of sulfate in surface water kills wild rice – a food that is at the heart of Ojibwe or Anishinabe tradition.
The Bois Forte Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation is about 60 miles away from the Minntac Taconite mine. Many on the reservation say the rice is not only important to their past — it’s important to their future.