Menominee: People of the Wild Rice

Wisconsin...cheese country. Farms, forests, lakes and rivers...A breath of fresh air for this country girl after spending several days in Chicago on business. By renting a car and driving half a day, I arrived in the small town of Kenesha, the seat of the Menominee tribal council. The name "Menominee" comes from the Ojibwe name manoominii, meaning "wild rice people", as wild rice is one of their most important traditional staples. Since the beginning of time, the Menominee people have made the Green Bay area and Upper Michigan their homelands. What is most surprising are the few artifacts on display at various local museums that give a sense of how these people lived in pre-history eras up to the current time. I checked out the Neville Museum in Green Bay and the Milwaukee Public museum...finding some items that showcase Menominee life but not as much as I would have hoped. What artifacts that were available for display such as some baskets, blunt arrows and games were scattered among other tribes that reside in Wisconsin. I mean, these people were here on their homelands during the Clovis Era which is 13,000 years old! Where are the ancient artifacts of pottery, stone tools, traditional trade routes and ancient village sites? All I can guess is that this small nation wants it to be that way. Keeping their inherited traditions and ancestral knowledge for the new generations to come.