LANSING, MI – Native communities across Michigan are celebrating a pair of victories in Lansing this year.
A bill that would require school districts and public school academies to allow Native students to wear regalia and bring traditional objects to graduation ceremonies was approved this month by lawmakers in both the state House and Senate. That legislation now awaits Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature.
The other major success was the designation of wild rice as a native grain of the state of Michigan, after a years-long campaign.
The genesis of the regalia law came in 2023 “as a result of the reports of incidents in Michigan public schools that occur every year,” said Julie Dye, co-founder of the Michigan Democratic Party’s Anishinaabek Caucus and a citizen of the Southwest Michigan-based Pokémon Band of Potawatomi.
She said Indigenous graduate students have been denied the right to wear Indigenous regalia or other items.
“It’s so meaningful and restorative for Indigenous communities to be able to express religious freedom, if you will. Students have brought Bibles and carried crucifixes, and that’s okay. But try to wear an eagle feather, and they will be denied,” Dye said.
The now-passed legislation would end that discrimination if Whitmer signs the bill.
A “water not war” pin on a hat with tribal regalia worn by Nichole Keway Biber of the Michigan Democratic Party’s Anishinaabek Caucus during a Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) meeting in Lansing on Friday, December 1, 2023. ( Garret Ellison |.MLive)Garret Ellison | MLive
Native activist Nichole Keway Biber of Lansing, a resident of the Harbor Springs-based Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, said it is deeply troubling that students are not allowed to wear regalia.
“It is a great relief and very moving to know that we will no longer have a cloud of worry hanging over us as we create special regalia to honor our children and their educational milestones,” she said.
State representatives unanimously approved the regalia law on December 13. Senators voted 27-10 last Friday on the Regalia and Traditional Objects Act during their marathon, multi-day session to approve whatever legislation they could pass after the House of Representatives failed to reach a quorum and was suspended early.
The other big success for Native communities across Michigan this year was the recognition of wild rice as a state symbol.
The designation of wild rice – manoomin (pronounced mun-oo-min) in the Anishinaabe language – as the native grain of the state of Michigan was observed last month in Lansing during a private meeting between tribal advocates and Whitmer. It was the culmination of years of effort.
Roger LaBine and his son Anthony LaBine Sr. move through a manoomin, or wild rice, bed at Brule Lake in the far western Upper Peninsula on September 19, 2022. They use traditional, indigenous methods to harvest the grain in a way that doesn’t damage the plants or the sensitive habitat it needs.Sheri McWhirter | MLive.com
Tribal Elder Roger LaBine, of the western Upper Peninsula-based Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, traveled to Lansing last month for a manoomin signing ceremony with Whitmer.
“I almost gave up trying to make that happen,” LaBine told MLive. “I fought for ten years trying to make that happen.”
The governor set up a time for LaBine to visit her in Lansing to discuss the importance of manoomin, even though she had already done so. previously signed the law privately converted into law.
LaBine is Michigan’s top expert on wild rice, which is considered the most culturally important plant species for Great Lakes tribes because of its role at the heart of the Anishinaabe migration story.
And he’s not the only Native Michigander celebrating this special recognition.
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Manoomin is now Michigan’s designated native grain
Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community in eastern UP, said wild rice is more than a food source.
“It is a sacred gift from the Creator, deeply woven into our stories, culture and way of life,” she said.
“According to the oral traditions of our ancestors, many centuries ago the Creator told the Anishinaabe to travel west and seek the lands where the ‘food grows on the waters’ or people would perish. Manoomin or wild rice in a way defines what it means to be Anishinaabe,” Gravelle said. “It is the custodian of a culture, and to this day manoomin or wild rice plays an important role in the traditions of our people.”
The keystone aquatic plant is now a symbol of the state of Michigan, as are the Petoskey stone and the white pine tree. Other states have designated state grains, but Michigan is the first state to designate one original grain.
The designation is a largely symbolic measure without any environmental protection for wild rice. But that doesn’t mean LaBine isn’t committed to continuing his efforts for the next step in the future Michigan Wild Rice Initiative and its management plan.
“I hope to try to keep the momentum going,” LaBine said.
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