Effort to change the derogatory Snake River name
I am spearheading the local, national and international movement to change the derogatory name
of our state's Rum River. This river was the super highway for the Isanti or Dakota Indians.
To them, this important waterway was known as Watpa Wakan, the Great Spirit River, until a
white man's pun turned "spirit" into "rum".
I am also spearheading a movement to change several other derogatory geographic place names
that are offensive to Native Americans as well as to many other people. The Snake River, a
river that flows through Aitkin, Kanabec and Pine Counties, gets its name from the Ojibwe
word Kanabec, or snake, naming it after their enemies, the Dakota, who lived upriver, and
who they later displaced. This river is also on my list of derogatory names that I am
trying to change. And Representative Mike Jaros (DFL) 07B, a supporter of my effort to
change the name of Snake River as well as the other derogatory names on my list, has
asked that my proposed bill be put in draft form. He is authoring the bill.
Thomas Dahlheimer
Wahkon