The Peterborough Examiner

Wild rice meeting Saturday

Save Pigeon Lake group holding meeting in Ennismore

- JOELLE KOVACH Examiner Staff Writer joelle.kovach@peterborou­ghdaily.com

ENNISMORE — A community meeting is taking place Saturday for property owners on Pigeon Lake concerned about the proliferat­ion of wild rice planted in the lakes by Indigenous harvesters.

James Whetung, a member of Curve Lake First Nation, has been sowing and harvesting wild rice on Pigeon Lake for years.

Whetung harvests and sells at the Peterborou­gh Farmers’ Market under the name Black Duck Wild Rice.

Indigenous people have a legal right to harvest the rice, but for years waterfront homeowners have had concerns: they say the rice beds are now so thick on Pigeon Lake they can’t navigate their boats.

A few years ago they formed a group called Save Pigeon Lake that wants to stop the deliberate seeding of wild rice.

Now they’re calling a community meeting on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Ennismore Community Centre to discuss concerns about wild rice at Pigeon Lake, Buckhorn Lake and Chemong Lake.

The meeting agenda includes a discussion about how property owners must deal with the rice and its debris, and their “inability to enjoy the waterfront.”

The flyer also states they will be discussing what’s next for the property owners as they deal with the wild rice.

An organizer said Thursday that Status of Women Minister and Peterborou­gh-Kawartha Maryam Monsef is expected at the meeting, as well as Selwyn Township mayor-elect Andy Mitchell and representa­tives from the Trent-Severn Waterway.

Curve Lake Chief Phyllis Williams won’t be able to attend, the organizer said, but Coun. Lorenzo Whetung is expected to come and speak on behalf of the band council. He’s the Curve Lake representa­tive on the Williams Treaties harvesting committee.

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