Far from the Boundary Waters, the Mille Lacs tribe resists another copper-nickel mine

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When wild rice ripens, a gentle tap knocks grains off the stalk.

The rice collects in canoes launched by harvesters in shallow waters starting each August. Conditions can be sweaty, buggy and not for the faint of heart.

“But the reward at the end is beautiful wild rice,” said Kelly Applegate, commissioner of natural resources for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

close up of hands carefully holding and examining tall wild grass stems in a sunny field