---------------------------------Mde Wakan (Lake Mille Lacs) -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the following material is a display of Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper information about my campaign to rectify injustices being committed against the Dakota people within their Mille Lacs Lake area traditional and ancestral homeland. The following material also includes a display of Mille Lacs Messenger information about other topics that I have written about.

by Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer

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... Dakota rights activist initiatives

Alcohol in fur trade - Monday 15 March 2010...News for Natives post...article about this topic

"Roman Catholic French colonists used the Ojibwe's weakness to abuse alcohol during the fur trade era to force the Dakota from their northern Minnesota homelands, including Mille Lacs, the center of their world."

"When the United States was established, it was founded on the racist "Doctrine of Discovery" and it also approved of the use of spreading alcohol addition amongst tribes for the propose of having them steal other tribes' original land. Therefore, it did not give the Dakotas' northern Minnesota land back to them. It took possession of it and gave the Ojibwe occupancy rights to some of it. The Dakota remain an exiled people to this present-day.

Reclaiming the Wakpa Wakan - August 13, 2008

LeMoine LaPointe, director of the Healthy Nations Program at the Minneapolis American Indian Center...says "reclaiming the Rum River is important to the health of the Dakota community"..."These young people (Dakota youth) are taking the initiative to scout the length of the river in order for their tribe to become familiar with it, and in so doing, reclaim their tribal legacy," "The Rum, known for centuries as Wakan Wakpa (Holy River), is an important spiritual and cultural artery to the Dakota who, until 1745, lived at Mille Lacs (Mde Wakan) and considered it the center of their world."

Political involvement - December 26, 2004

(About a Dakota activist in the Mille Lacs area) "Winona LaDuke (an internationally renowned indigenous activist) was the coordinator of a meeting to address the subject of protecting sacred Native American sites, a meeting held at the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Government Center....Jim Anderson, the Cultural Chair and historian for the Mendota Medwakanton Dakota community and a supporter of the effort to change the Rum River's name, invited me to this meeting. Don Wedll, Jim Anderson and a number of other Native Americans also attended."

Call it Spirit

On a Kathio Landmark Trail interpretive sign located at the Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, Leonard E. Wabasha's statement about his peoples' ancient sacred homeland on the headwaters of the Rum River is displayed. On this interpretive sign Wabasha is quoted as saying:

"My people are the Mdewakanton Oyate. Mdewakanton means the People of Spirit Lake. Today that lake is known as Mille Lacs. This landscape is sacred to the Mdewakanton Oyate because one Otokaheys Woyakapi (creation story) says we were created here. It is especially pleasing for me to come here and walk these trails, because about 1718 the first Chief Wapahasa was born here, at the headwaters of the Spirit River. I am the eighth in this line of hereditary chiefs."

The following two quotes present the Lower Sioux Mdewakanton perspective on why their ancestors left their sacred Mille Lacs Lake homeland around 1750. (1.) "Long ago, the Mdewakanton Dakota lived around Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota. Around 1750, our ancestors were displaced by another nation, the Anishinabe, and they relocated throughout the southern portion of the state." (2.) "This was not the last time the Mdewakantons would be forced into a new home. Treaties in 1851 and 1858 resulted in nearly 7,000 Dakota people being moved onto a narrow reservation along the Minnesota River."... other Dakota tribes' statements on this topic

Recognition Initiative - November 27, 200

"The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.....gained possession of this land by showing no respect for the sovereign rights of the Mdewakanton Dakota, the original "Indians" of the Mille Lacs area."

Apology needed - September 9, 2009 ... News For Natives post... Published in Indian Country Today newspaper

"During the meeting I requested that Rep. Urdahl change the draft resolution to include an apology for the atrocities committed against the Dakota in their sacred Mille Lacs ancestral homeland, and also acknowledge how those atrocities were primarily responsible for the Dakota conflict of 1862. The Dakota tribal representatives supported my requests."

Restore Ogechie - Wednesday 05, August 2009...News For Natives post

"I support the effort to restore Ogechie Lake. I am working to influence the U.S. government and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to give Ogechie Lake back to the Dakota Indians in a restored condition."

Mille Lacs' role in Dakota culture - Tuesday, 07 April 2009 ... Myspace.com post

"Because of my knowledge of the importance of Mille Lacs Lake and surrounding area as a Dakota homeland, I initiated and am spearheading the local, national and international movement to change the faulty-translation and profane name of Minnesota's Rum River, the river that flows from Mille Lacs Lake, back to its sacred Dakota name, Wakan."

Sovereign nation status is infficient - Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The federal recognition of "sovereign nation status" for Indian tribes is insufficient because U.S. tribes were fully independent sovereign nations and were not subjugated by any other nation, as they are today.

You also wrote: "'So, what I am seeing in this draft is basically another attempt to return all land previously occupied by the aboriginal natives 200-plus years ago to the current tribe members.' The draft is not attempting to do that. The draft states: "Redress can include restitution of traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used lands and resources. Or if return of original lands is not possible, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status,..."

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The Racist "Doctrine of Discovery"

In the following Mille Lacs Messenger letters I attack the roots of racism against indigenous people in the Mille Lacs area and around the world. Attacking the roots of racism, or the "doctrines of discovery" (a series of 15th century papal bulls/degrees), collectively called the "Doctrine of Discovery", will go a long ways in respect to helping the Dakota to reclaim their Mille Lacs ancestral homeland.

Apology Resolution - April 14, 2010

"During an Aug, 18th, 2009 meeting with Minnesota Rep. Dean Urdahl, two Mdewakanton Dakota tribal leaders and two indigenous peoples rights activists, including John Borman and I, 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, a Mdewakanton Dakota hereditary chief, said, Yes!"

"Urdahl recently informed me that he introduced a reconciliation 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."

"I am hoping that this resolution will cause the Vatican to break its cover-up silence associated with the Doctrine of Discovery injustice issue, so that the Minnesota Catholic Conference can give its support for the passage of this resolution, which would be a big step in the right direction toward setting indigenous people free.

Apology needed - September 9, 200... Published in Indian Country Today newspaper

(During a meeting with Rep. Urdahl and Dakota tribal representatives) "I also spoke about the Doctrine of Discovery, which was based on a series of 15th century Papal bulls/decrees, as being the source of the past and present-day racism against our state's indigenous people. I also mentioned that the national Episcopal Church recently adopted a resolution repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. In addition, I said that if our state is going to adopt an apology resolution it should repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery. Leonard Wabasha agreed and expressed his support for my initiative to pursue an apology resolution which would repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery.

"Steve Newcomb is 'going through' my draft apology resolution. I am expecting to receive suggestions from him that will help me to improve the resolution. Urdahl knows of Newcomb's involvement and is looking forward to receiving my revised resolution. Newcomb is an internationally renowned indigenous law scholar who is on the forefront of the world-wide movement to influence Pope Benedict XVI to publicly revoke the 15th century Papal bull [Inter Caetera]. It's the Doctrine of Discovery Papal bull most responsible for the subjugation of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

No more bull - December 06, 200

"After Tony Castanha, an internationally renowned leader of the movement to influence the Roman Catholic hierarchy to revoke the 15th century Papal Bull [Inter Caetera] read my article "Changing The Racist Name of the Knights of Columbus" and watched my youtube.com video "Protesting The Racist Name Of the Knights of Columbus" he contacted me and gave his support for the work I am doing to change our state's derogatory names, influence the Roman Catholic hierarchy to revoke Inter Caetera, and put an end to the glorification of Christopher Columbus and his knights, who, according to a U.N. World Conference Against Racism document, committed a genocide against the native people they came in contact with, and did so, by following the edicts of 15th century popes, as put forth in their Papal Bulls, including the Papal Bull, Inter Caetera."

Alcohol in the fur trade - March 17, 201

"The colonists' "Doctrine of Discovery" mandate, which was based on a series of 15th century papal degrees and 16th century European charters, was to "subjugate" the natives, by taking away their lands, resources and full sovereignty rights."

Evil doctrine

"On June 17, Indigenous Peoples Literature (IPL) posted an (online) article of mine titled 'Proposals to heal the genocidal wounds of indigenous peoples." In the article, I quoted a statement made by Louis Stanley Schoen in a Star Tribune article." "'What if a public commission were to begin to examine the American (and European) history of white supremacy... and, here, how that doctrine shaped the formation of Minnesota and its public and private institutions?" "What if such a commission learned how to offer leadership and resources to dismantle this evil doctrine?" "After this quote, I wrote that the 'evil doctrine' that needs to be dismantled is the 15th century Papal Bull Inter Caetera. After reading my IPL article, Steve Newcomb, a writer for Indian Country Today and an internationally renowned leader of the movement to dismantle the Inter Caetera Bull, contacted me and said, 'Thanks Thomas, Good Work!'"

Eradicate poverty - December 13, 200... News for Natives post... Published in Indian Country Today newspaper

"When Columbus sailed the ocean.. not blue, but red, with blood spilled by the Christian empire-building mission of Pope Nicholas V. According to a United Nations World Conference Against Racism document, his Papal Bull [Romanus Pontifex] 'declared war against all non-Christians throughout the world, and specifically sanctioned and promoted the conquest, colonization, and exploitation of non-Christian nations and their territories.'"

We need a new culture... News for Natives post

One of my indigenous peoples' rights activist initiatives, an initiative that is related to my initiatives that support Minnesota's indigenous peoples' rights, has gained support and correspondence from the two internationally renowned Indigenous activists who are on the forefront of the movement that is trying to influence Pope Benedict XVI to publicly revoke, or apologize for, a fifteenth century papal bull [Inter Caetera], which is the source of the racism being committed against, both, Minnesota's and our nation's, as well as many other nations', indigenous peoples.

Inter Caetera denies indigenous peoples some of their basic fundamental human rights. If Pope Benedict XVI would be so kind to publicly revoke this papal bull, or apologize for it, and then write and publish a document that states that indigenous peoples have the same fundamental human rights as all other peoples, this would go a long ways toward helping to create a new U.S.A. culture based on traditional tribal cultural valves.

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Mille Lacs Messenger letters and article about the Rum River name-change movement

River by any other name - first article about river name change

Name change petition going forward - second article about river name change

Gaining ground

Change supported - October 5, 200

Still Unaddressed

Taking issue

Man's vision draws statewide interest - article

To much to ask

Call it Spirit

Spirit Drive

Political involvement

Wakan River

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Different topics

Eradicate poverty - December 13, 2009 ...News For Natives post...Indian Country Today post>

We need a new culture... News for Natives post

Still rationalizing.... published in Indian Country Today newspaper

"Americans found the idea that they were God's new Israel, so attractive because it helped justify their partial destruction and total subjugation of the indigenous peoples of the New World."

Hell in a hand basket - July 19, 2007

Shaping consent - July 19, 2006

Heaven on earth - May 27, 2008

Expediting the end?

The real terrorists

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Opposed to casinos/gambling, selling alcohol and commercial tobacco

Moral Standards

Address hypocritical - January 25, 2006

Opposed to casinos - December 25, 2003

Opposed to casinos - March 9, 2005

Establishing a dry (alcohol free) Mille Lacs County - parts of three Messenger letters

Contributing hatred - September 27, 200

Nuclear waste - September 10, 2003

Why no outrage? - November 16, 2005

Tobacco concerns - April 20, 2005

More on tobacco - September 2007

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My Mille Lacs Messenger blob