Successful Transplant on the Chippewa NF

By Melissa Rickers on Jun 6, 2011

Students helped gather sweetgrass in order to transplant to establish foundation blocks for a sweetgrass propagation program on the Chippewa National Forest.

On May 23, students from the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig school, an alternative school for Native American students in Bena, Minnesota helped gather sweetgrass in order to transplant to establish foundation blocks for a sweetgrass propagation program on the Chippewa National Forest.

The sweetgrass propagation project is funded by Ottertail Power as part of a mitigation program to replace traditional gathering opportunities that are affected by construction of the new 230 kV transmission line through the Leech Lake Reservation.

Students dug up seventy blocks of sod from alongside Turtle River Lake Road in Beltrami County on the Chippewa National Forest. Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig Teacher John Parmenter and Forest Botanist Tom Heutte directed the removal of the sweetgrass blocks. The blocks were transported to Camp Rabideau where the Rabideau Conservation and Learning Academy will propagate sweetgrass to be planted near local indian communities on the Leech Lake Reservation. It is hoped that Camp Rabideau will serve as a foundation for production of sweetgrass that will benefit tribes across Minnesota.

Sweetgrass is an important plant in many Native American traditions including the Ojibwe culture for a variety of medicinal and spiritual uses. There is great demand for sweetgrass among Native Americans wanting to reconnect with their traditional culture. Sweetgrass is well known for its sweet flavor and vanilla scent. Among other uses, strands of sweetgrass are woven into braids that are burned as incense.

For further information contact Tom Heutte (218) 335-8662