Students learn about archery equipment and bow hunting techniques. - Photo Credit: Walt Ford/USFWS

Students learn what it takes to skin a deer. - Photo Credit: Walt Ford/USFWS

A Cultural Celebration Day was held on October. 22, 2012 at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge for students attending the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe schools Nay Ah Shing and Minisinaakwaang Leadership Academy, as well as charter schools from Pillager and Warba, Minn.

The theme for the day was hunting and fishing. Volunteers provided instruction on bow hunting, setting traps and snares, waterfowl identification, tree identification, firearm safety, and skinning a deer. Approximately 120 people were in attendance; 100 students and 20 staff. The origins of this cultural celebration day began in July when students affiliated with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe held their first cultural celebration at Rice Lake Refuge to learn about the importance of wild rice to the Ojibwe people.