Open letter to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community Tribal Council

----- Reclaiming the Dakota's Mde Wakan (Lake Mille Lacs) traditional homeland -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:.....July 24, 2010
To:........Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community Tribal Council
From:.....Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
RE:........Update on my Oceti Sakowin rights activist initiatives

Dear Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community Tribal Council,

Greetings from the small town of Wahkon, Minnesota, where the headquarters of the Rum River Name Change Organization are located.

Leonard Wabasha and I have made some good progress toward reaching the goal of our campaign to change the faulty-translation and profane/derogatory name of the "Rum River" back to its sacred Dakota name (Wakan), or to at least its correct English translation (Spirit).

There is a groundswell of support for the effort to change the Rum River name within the counties of the Wakan/Spirit River corridor. Evidence of this can be seen by looking at the increasing number of sites and groups named Spirit or Wakan River, such as eight businesses, a city street, a three mile long nature area, a Christian community, a community health clinic, a substance abuse treatment center, a youth club and a (Wakan) creek, etc, as well as other sites with variations on the Dakota name itself - Wakenen Ct. NE. more...

During an August 18th, 2009 meeting with Minnesota Rep. Dean Urdahl, two Mdewakanton Dakota tribal leaders and two indigenous peoples rights activists, including John Borman and myself, Urdah asked me to write a Minnesota Indian Apology Resolution. During the meeting I stated that the Doctrine of Discovery should be included in the resolution and Leonard Wabasha agreed.

I then contacted Steven Newcomb, an internationally renowned Indigenous activist who I correspond with and who is on the forefront of the movement to influence Pope Benedict IV to publicly repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery, and asked him for his support and assistance with the draft resolution, which he did give. Newcomb is a columnist for Indian Country Today (ICT) newspaper, the world's leading "Indian" news source. A (submitted) ITC letter of mine about my correspondence with Newcomb and the draft resolution that I was asked to write was published. Reference: Sparking change in Minnesota

Urdahl recently informed me that he introduced the resolution to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Most of the material in the resolution is from my draft apology/reconciliation resolution, including material about the Doctrine of Discovery. In respect to this work of mine, Wabasha wrote: "Well done, Tom". Reference: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/resolutions/ls86/0/HC0004.htm

I met with Urdahl to discuss my proposed bill to change our state's 13 derogatory geographic place names. During the meeting he said he would draft a bill to change at least some of the derogatory names. He then drafted the bill, but because Rep. Anzelc asked Urdahl if he would let him introduce the bill, Urdahl sent him the draft bill so that he could introduce it. Urdahl recently informed me that Anzelc would introduce the bill during the next legislative session.

Indigenous Peoples Literature recently posted an article of mine about the Minnesota Reconciliation Resolution, the future bill to change our state's derogatory names and an open (on-line) letter to Governor Pawlenty wherein I request that he establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Reference: Minnesota Reconciliation Resolution

On a new web page of mine about my Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper letters that present information about my campaign to rectify injustices being committed against your Dakota people within their Mille Lacs Lake area traditional and ancestral homeland there are displayed the titles of fourteen Mille Lacs Messenger letters, plus links to the letters, and some key quotes from the letters are also presented. In addition, there are also displayed titles and links to related articles. This new web page can be found by clicking:
Messenger letters

Example: Sacred Homeland - Wednesday, 01 July 2009

"The Mdewakanton Dakota people are coming back to reclaim their sacred Mille Lacs homeland, and I am preparing the way for them to return and reclaim it. They're coming to reclaim their sacred land, lake, river headwaters and full independent sovereign nation status and rights." related articles. The importance of Mille Lacs Lake in the history and culture of the Dakota people..... Reclaiming Minnesota..Mini Sota Makoce, the Dakota homeland..... Oceti Sakowin rights activist initiatives

Paul Gorski, an internationally renowned multicultural educator and social justice activist who I correspond with, posted an article of mine, titled Independent Indigenous Sovereign Nations on his MultiCultural Pavilion digest forum. And Amy Kasi, the Program Manager for the National Multicultural Institute (NMCI) displayed a quote from the article and a link to it on NMCI's monthly newsletter, as October's SPOTLIGHT article. The quote reads:

..."However, the indigenous peoples living in this land are still being denied three of their--endowed by the Creator--inalienable equality rights, or fundamental human rights. The right to absolute root ownership of their scared traditional/ancestral homelands, the right to be recognized and treated as full independent sovereign nations and the--freedom of religion--right to fully re-establish their traditional religions within their sacred ancestral homelands,..."

In respect to this article of mine, Kasi wrote: "I think it would be a valuable resource for anyone interested in not only indigenous peoples but also the history of the US and human rights violations in the US." In the article I also wrote: The United States is an illegitimate nation state. The article can be found by clicking Independent Indigenous Sovereign Nations

I have been working for a couple of months on a new booklet, titled, "Oceti Sakowin rights activist initiatives". It's about my Oceti Sakowin rights activist initiatives in the Mille Lacs Lake area. To view and read this article click: Oceti Sakowin rights activist initiatives

At Wabasha's request, I addressed a Talk Circle during a "Great Dakota Homecoming" event in Winona, MN.. The Talk Circle was also a MN's Sesquicentennial event. After addressing the Talk Circle the Winona Daily News published a letter of mine about the Talk Circle and the MN Sesquicentennial Commission's public acknowledgement that our state committed ethnocide and genocide against its Indigenous people. Quotes from the letter read: "When Minnesotans acknowledge the painful wounds of ethnocide and genocide...they will be inspired to go through a radical social, political and religious transformation...a peaceful cultural revolution will occur, and Minnesotans will be changed for the better". reference: STATE LOOKS TO SETTLE UP WITH THE PAST

The United States National Episcopal Church recently repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery. Steven Newcomb, myself and others who are part of a movement to reveal to the general public as well as to governmental, media and religious leaders how evil this doctrine really was and how (in 1823) it was incorporated into U.S. Federal Indian Law and still remains the bases of Federal Indian Law today. We are working to repeal this law and establish a new paradigm based on the belief that the indigenous peoples of the New World owned the land they discovered and lived on, and did so, because they had an inherent God given right to own those lands. Further, we advocate that that right to own land (or possess territorial integrity) was not based on whether they were of a particular race or creed, or whether they were civilized or uncivilized, but by reason of their humanity.

Therefore, people who adopt this new paradigm believe that the United States is an illegitimate nation state. Since adopting this new paradigm I have come to believe that the tribal councils of Minnesota's tribes are puppet governments of the United States and that they (including your council) and their/your people are desensitized (sacred sites are being desecrated, disrespectful geographic names can be changed, but who cares) and assimilated (most MN tribes have abandoned their traditional culture to make money by taking advantage of people's addiction weaknesses). Most of the tribes are caught up in hedonism, casino gambling businesses, sale of alcohol and tobacco, drug and alcohol abuse, violent behavior, gangs, etc. I am therefore requesting that you and your Mdewakanton Dakota people break away from this horrible way of life and get back to your good traditional value system - by returning to your Mde Wakan (Lake Mille Lacs) traditional and ancestral homeland and reclaiming it. I have been preparing the way for this to occur and it is now time for this peaceful revolutionary change to take place.

I and the other directors of the Rum River Name Change Organization recently established a Oceti Sakowin Homecoming Commission which is now making plans for an event wherein Dakota/Lakota/Nakota people will be sent an invitation to return to their Mde Wakan (Lake Mille Lacs) traditional and ancestral homeland - to, at least for a day or two, honor their Mde Wakan area ancestors and reconnect with their heritage in this sacred place where there is a Oceti Sakowin creation story. One of the members of this commission is one-fourth Lakota.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
Executive Director of the Rum River Name Change Organization, Inc.