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Mille Lacs Messenger
by Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
Dec. 26, 2004

Political involvement

In a Dec. 22, Messenger column, Joe Fellegy mentioned Winona LaDuke, an Ojibwe writer and speaker who is known for her efforts in various environmental and indigenous rights causes around the world and who was Ralph Nader's running mate in the 2002 U.S. presidential election, had associated herself with a major Mille Lacs political event (an important meeting of the Lake Mille Lacs Association) and that this was news he thought should have been published in the Messenger.

After reading Fellegy's column, I came to believe that his position on this issue was right. And I would like to inform Mille Lacs Messenger readers that in the summer of 2004 Winona LaDuke 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.

I am spearheading the international movement to change the profane name of the Rum River, and in doing so, I am trying to protect a sacred Native American site, the so-called Rum River, or the river the Mdewakanton Dakota know as Wakan, translated as Sacred.

Prior to the meeting mentioned above, Winona LaDuke coordinated a meeting on protecting sacred Native American sites. Jim Anderson, the cultural chairman 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.

During this meeting Winona LaDuke asked me to address the people attending this meeting. I then presented some information on the progress of my movement to change the Rum River's name. Jim Anderson also addressed the people attending this meeting. He expressed that he was helping me to build a support base for the effort to change the name and that he would like to see the river's name changed to its Mdewakanton Dakota name.

Winona LaDuke then responded by saying "to an Indian name." During a resent conversation with Don Wedll, a consultant to the Band and supporter of the effort to change the river's name, I was informed that some prominent members of the Mille Lacs Band do not want the name changed to its Mdewakanton Dakota name.

During the protecting sacred Native American sites meeting, Winona LaDuke told me twice that she reads the e-mails I send her. Hence this is another example of how much Winona LaDuke is involved with Mille Lacs political issues associated with Native Americans.

Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer, Wahkon

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