Establishing a dry (alcohol free) Mille Lacs County

My letters to the editor about this topic are presented below.

In the last half of a Mille Lac Messenger letter to the editor, titled: "Why no outrage" I wrote:

(Published on November 16, 2005)

Why no outrage!

And why is their no outrage and social activism by the majority of U.S. Christians for the 108,000 U.S. citizens who die every year from alcohol abuse? And why is their no outrage and social activism by the majority of U.S. Christians for the 440,000 U.S. citizens who die every year from tobacco abuse?

In a recent edition of the Mille Lacs Messenger, there was an article about a movement in Mille Lacs County to help curb alcohol and drug abuse. And in the article, it was mentioned that alcohol and tobacco are "gateway" substances. I would like to see the Pastors of Christian Churches in Mille Lacs County encouraging their congregations to start up social concerns groups that would work to not only make Mille Lacs County a dry county but also work to influence legislators to make the addictive and dangerous "gateway" substances (alcohol and tobacco) illegal to produce, sell or use.

Continuing on with a radically hypocritical (sinful) double standard associated with the approval of the legalization of two very dangerous and harmful "gateway" substances (alcohol and tobacco) and the disapproval of the legalization of other substances is not going to do anything but make the horrendous substance abuse epidemic and related social atrocities situation even worse.

Tom Dahlheimer
Wahkon
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On January 25, 2006, the following letter to the editor was published in the Mille Lacs Messenger.

Address Hypocritical

In response to statements made by the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Melane Benjamin during the State of the Band address, statements published in a January 18, 2006 Messenger article, "To Stop the devastation of the Mille Lacs hurricane," I would like to express that I believe that they are shot through with hypocrisy and do nothing to help resolve the problems that she and other Bands leaders are trying to resolve.

During the State of the Band address, Chief Executive Benjamin said, "The responsibility lays with us as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to get our children involved in our culture. If we help our youth learn our traditions. If we help them take pride in their Anishinabe identity, they won’t be so quick to look for themselves in drugs and alcohol." And Benjamin also said, "I want to send a message to the people selling drugs that they can’t do it here."

As long as the Band sells addictive and harmful produces, such as gambling, tobacco and alcohol - and by doing so, promotes the antitheses of Anishinabe culture, Benjamin’s mentioned above statements are not going to be taken seriously by Band members who are selling other addictive produces.

In a recent letter to the Messenger, I tried to influence Mille Lacs County leaders to help me establishment of a dry (alcohol free) county, but the leaders of the Mille Lacs Band have not given me any assistance with this initiative of mine.

Mille Lacs Band leaders say they are trying to stop the alcohol abuse "hurricane" devastating their people, but they have not given their support for my effort to establish a dry Mille Lacs County and by doing so help their people and other Native Americans to free themselves from the perpetual "hurricane" of alcoholism.

Therefore, I believe that this years State of the Band address was a hypocritical blunder that is going to cause more suffering and grief for both Band members as well as for many other people living in and visiting Mille Lacs County. It seems to me that blatant hypocrisy was the theme of this years State of the Band address.

Thomas Dahlheime,
Wahkon
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Mille Lacs Messenger/September 27, 2006

Contributing hated

Because of what I have heard from prominent members of the Mille Lacs Band I believe that the band's leaders believe that most of the racism against their Indian community is brewed in our county's bars. An Isle council member said that he believed that the primary cause of the racist incident that occurred during this year's Isle parade was due to the consumption of alcohol in the Isle municipal bar. And in a Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper article, subtitled: "300 gather to note the toll by alcohol abuse", Melvin Eagle, a prominent member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is quoted as saying: "Alcoholism is not our traditional way. We need to try to pull together and away from alcohol because it is destroying our people." But the Mille Lacs Band has still not given its support for my effort to bring about a dry (alcohol free) Mille Lacs County.

In a recent letter to the Messenger, I tried to influence Mille Lacs County leaders to help me establishment a dry county. However, the leaders of the Mille Lacs Band as well as other leaders of our county have not given me any assistance with this initiative of mine. And now because of white racial hatred - brewed in a bar - our county is now receiving a lot of negative publicity that justifiably criticizes our county for being a white racist county that does not show due respect for Americans Indians.

During prohibition there was a movement to change the name of the Rum River. At the time, a lot of people did not want rivers and other geographic places to have names that were advertisements for alcoholic beverages, or addictive products that they considered harmful to society. And this is one reason why I am spearheading the movement to change the name of the Rum River. The non-Indian leaders of our county should be supporting the effort to change the name of the Rum River for this reason as well as for other reasons. Their lack of support is another example of racism in our county.

Tribal casinos are also a source of racial hatred. The United Methodist Church has taken a positions on this controversial issues by making the following public statement: "Because of the United Methodist’s public witness on gambling we are on countless mailing lists for groups opposed to gambling. We believe that off-reservation casinos have fostered an anti-sovereignty climate, which is growing. We find the increase in anti-sovereignty and anti-Indian racist rhetoric by some of these groups alarming. We do our best to counteract the positions of these groups at every opportunity, but, the careless disregard for communities and children in promoting off-reservation casinos, some in poorest of areas, make this very difficult. It is simply unacceptable that tribes propose to build casinos with little or no regard for their social cost on a community."

I am also opposed to Tribal casino gambling, as well as to all other types of legalized gambling. And I am starting a movement to put an end to gambling in Minnesota. An article by Rep. Tom Emmer was recently published in the Princeton Union-Eagle. In the article he mentioned that he recently offered an amendment to the House of Representatives to put an end to gambling in Minnesota. I contacted him and we have started to correspond. Hopefully, we will be able to put an end to gambling in Minnesota, including Tribal casino gambling businesses, another source of racial hatred.

Thomas Dahlheimer
Wahkon