Join us for coffee and donuts to discuss “Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan” with author Barb Barton.

She will discuss her award-winning book about the rich tradition of wild rice in Michigan and its importance to the Anishinaabek people who live here.
“Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan” focuses on the biology, history, and culture surrounding the State of Michigan’s native grain and the efforts to restore and protect it across the landscape.

The story travels through time from the days before European colonization and winds its way forward in and out of the logging and industrialization eras. It weaves between the worlds of the Anishinaabek and the colonizers, contrasting their different perspectives and divergent relationships with Manoomin. Barton discusses historic wild rice beds that once existed in Michigan, why many disappeared, and the efforts of tribal and nontribal people with a common goal of restoring and protecting Manoomin across the landscape.

A lecture will be held the preceding evening, Thursday, July 11th in the theater of the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture will begin at 7 p.m.

These are free events.