A Groundswell Of Support
There is a groundswell of support, especially in Isanti County, for the effort to change
the derogatory and profane (faulty-English-translation) name of Minnesota's Rum River. Evidence
of this groundswell of support can be witnesses by the number of sites that have recently been
named "Spirit River" or "Wakan River".
Below, there are links to websites where there is information about several businesses,
a community medical clinic, a nature area, a trail, a youth club, a substance abuse treatment
center and a city street named after Chief Leonard Wabasha's originally chosen
new name for the badly named Rum River, it being Spirit, which is the correct
English translation for the Dakotas sacred name for the river (Wakan).
(1.)
Spirit River Dr S
City Street in Cambridge, Minnesota - Spirit River Dr S. Here is a link to an article about Spirit River Drive South.
(2.) Spirit River Recovery
Substance Abuse Treatment Services at Cambridge Medical Center - Spirit River Recovery in Princeton, Minnesota -
located in Mille Lacs County.
(3.) Spirit River Photography
Business - Spirit River Photography - in Isanti, Minnesota - located
in Isanti County.
(4.) Spirit River - Gallery & Exchange
Business - Spirit River - Gallery & Exchange in Anoka,
Minnesota - located in Anoka County.
(5.)
Spirit River
WyldLife
Youth Club - Spirit River WyldLife, a youth club in Cambridge, Minnesota
- located in Isanti County.
(6.)
Spirit River Engineering
Business - Spirit River Engineering in Princeton, Minnesota -
located in Mille Lacs County.
(6.)
Spirit River Community Clinic
Community Health Clinic - Spirit River Community Clinic in Princeton, Minnesota -
located in Mille Lacs County.
(7.)
Spirit River Nature Area
Nature Area - Spirit River Nature Area in Cambridge, Minnesota -
located in Isanti County.
(8.) Spirit River Farms LLC
Business - Spirit River Farms LLC in Princeton, Minnesota - located in Mille Lacs County.
(9.) Spirit River Studio
Business - Spirit River Studio in Cambridge, Minnesota - located in Isanti County.
(10.) Spirit River Community
Religious Community affiliated with the United Methodist Church - Spirit River Community
in Isanti, Minnesota - located in Isanti County.
(11.) Spirt River Trail
Spirit River Trail: The Cambridge-Isanti Bike/Walk Trail is part of a
large ancient trail connecting the Issati villages on
Mille Lacs with the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes, St.
Anthony Falls, St. Paul and the Minnesota River.
The Manomin Trail was a logger’s segment
connecting Anoka and Brunswick. Using canoes, the
native Issati used the Great Spirit River as their main
connection between Mille Lacs and the area around
St. Anthony Falls. trail map
..article
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Kriste Ericsson, the coordinator of Friends of the Rum River, is a supporter of the
effort to change the name of the "Rum River". I occationally correspond with her.
She wrote: "There's also a few more sites named 'Spirit' or 'Wakan' in
our area than that (see above list) - a creek going into the 'Rum' at the south end
of the city of Isanti, a community church meeting in the Isanti Lion's Club, and
others with variations on the Dakota name itself - Wakenen Ct. NE - up by the old Oxbow
Bridge/Co. Rd. 14 on the 'Rum'."
More sites named "Spirit" or "Wakan" will be added to this list in the future.
...Rum River Name Change Movement website