Letter to the Editor:
Published in the Mille Lacs Messenger

Call it 'Spirit'

In the July 7 Moccasin Telegraph article Don Wedll mentioned that "the Battle of Kathio in 1745 established which lands in the region belonged to the Ojibwe."

After doing some research on this subject, I discovered that the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe oral tradition tells of a mid 1700s battle between the band's Lake Superior ancestors and the Mdewakanton Dakota who were living in the Mille Lacs area at the time. And the band's oral tradition also tells that by the end of this battle their Lake Superior ancestors had driven the Mdewakanton Dakota from their homeland "forever," and that that is how the Ojibwe took possession of the Mille Lacs area land that they now live on.

On a web page open to the public, the Lower Sioux Mdewakanton Community presents its historical perspective on this mid 1700s battle. 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."

In a Mille Lacs Band of Objibwe book about their heritage, the Mille Lacs Band stated, "In the mid 1700s, at least some of the Dakota people lived in the region around Mille Lacs Lake. The Dakota called the Lake Mde Wakan, or Spirit Lake. Spirit River, which flows out of the Lake, was renamed the Rum River by French explorers. They had not understood the meaning of the word, 'Spirit' and translated the name as 'spirits,' meaning "liquor."

I initiated and am spearheading the movement to revert the Rum River's derogatory name back to its Mdewakanton Dakota name (Wahkon), translated Spirit or Sacred. And this movement has been making a lot of progress in the last few months.

But the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Tribal Council has not yet come out in support for the effort to change the "Rum" River's profane name. And the reason why is because the movement to change the name is revitalizing the Mdewakanton Dakota's appreciation of their heritage in the Mille Lacs area.

When Don Wedll gave me feedback in respect to what prominent members of the Mille Lacs Band thought of my efforts to change the "Rum" River's derogatory name, I found out that they were opposed; and that the reason why was because, as they stated, "Its ours now".

On a Kathio Landmark Trail interpretive sign located at the Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, Leonars E. Wabasha's (Mdewakanton Dakota) 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."

by Thomas Dahlheimer
Director of Rum River Name Change Organization, Inc.