Leela Keshav


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The Seven Circles of Manoomin


The complex ecosystem of the Mississippi watershed in northern ‘Minnesota’ has for thousands of years been home to Anishinaabe communities. The wild rice lakes in this region have sustained Indigenous peoples for generations, and the gathering of wild rice, or Manoomin, is deeply rooted in Anishinaabe culture and spirituality. In yet another iteration of settler colonial violence against Indigenous peoples and their ability to maintain food sovereignty, the northern ‘Minnesota’ treaty lands are currently threatened by a pipeline owned by Alberta oil giant Enbridge called Line 3. 

Anishinaabekwe Water Protectors, among many other Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, have been combatting Line 3 for years. In this project, I attempt to respond to the question: How does Manoomin — as an indicator species, a witness and a giver of life — reflect past, ongoing and potential future violence by settler colonial government bodies and corporations toward the Anishinaabeg of so-called northern Minnesota? Equally important, how does Manoomin reflect Anishinaabe resistance and resurgence countering this violence?

This project was completed in 2021 at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

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