Some White Earth band members want to ban genetically-modified wild rice

March 8, 2005 - White Earth has become the first reservation in the country to ban the introduction or growth of genetically modified wild rice seeds. Now, some White Earth Band members want to take it one step further. They want the Legislature to ban genetically modified wild rice statewide. Wild rice experts with the University of Minnesota, however, say the tribe's worries are unwarranted. The lakes and rivers on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota are an ideal habitat for wild rice, and an important cultural food to the Ojibwe people.