Ethics from an Anishinaabe male wild rice chief

The spirit of the plants, animals, and places we tend and procure food and other resources from guide our ethics. As a protector of natural resources including wild rice, walleye, and wolves, we return to the lakes, rivers, forests, and swamps throughout the year, not just when they provide their bountiful harvest. We offer gifts, songs, smoke, and thank the spirits that protect these resources and offer us what we harvest. Working with elders, youth, and adults from many backgrounds and cultures presents challenges when regarding harvesting. We always come back to the origin stories (sacred oral stories), and discuss them in the context of treaty rights, modern laws, and what it means to be an honest, good human being walking gently on the earth with our actions and choices.