Reclamation of Indigenous Peoples' Traditional Homelands And Full Sovereignty Rights

Subtitle: Reclamation Of The Dakota Oyate's Mille Lacs Traditional Homeland

by Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer



Site of a Dakota traditional ancestral homeland village on Ogechie Lake,
located in the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota


On 11/14/2016, Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTMN), the world's largest Indian news source, posted a comment of mine on an article by Steven Newcomb, a world renowned Indigenous/Indian activist who is on the cutting edge of a global movement to usher in a new age and new world order, wherein indigenous peoples will regain their traditional ancestral homelands and full nation-state sovereignty rights. The article that I am referring to is titled ‘Void When Initiated; You Can’t Grant What You Don’t Possess’.

A part of this ICTMN article by Newcomb is about the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. The World Council of Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the U.S. Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church have all denounced this doctrine. ICTMN posted three selective comments on the article. My comment is the third comment. In this article of mine I have added reference links to my ICTMN comment, which reads:

Good article Mr. Newcomb. My name is Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer. The title of a recent online article of mine is, U.S. Has No Valid Title To Dakota Ancestral Land In Mille Lacs Co., Mn. A Grand Elder at International Center of Spiritual and Ancestral Wisdom recently shared my facebook group post in Regaining The Dakota Oyate's Mille Lacs Homeland. A sentence in the article reads: The Doctrine of Christian Discovery has been primarily used internationally to support decisions invalidating aboriginal possession of land in favor of colonial or post-colonial governments. Two paragraphs in my article and facebook post read:

(1.) In The Circle article titled Dakota Rising its author Jon Lurie describes how Wyatt Thomas traveled to Mille Lacs County from Nebraska where he lives on a reservation as a member of the Santee Dakota Tribe. "Thomas said that Minnesota, and Ogechie lake in particular, was, to him, home. Thomas was on a mission to scout his tribe's Minnesota ancestral lands. An important first step in reintroducing the Santee Dakota to their original homeland." ... "Thomas is one voice in a growing chorus of indigenous cultural leaders who agree that the reclamation of traditional lands is crucial to solving the Dakota mental health crisis due to the brutality of their historic treatment."

(2.) To the above paragraph's words "reclamation of traditional lands" I include a link to a video of a Standing Rock protest. It's a video link of a Christian delegation of allies to Standing Rock marching on a standoff roadblock. The narrator says that they [the bishops] are denouncing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and thus nullifying the Christian basis of [U.S.] land title to Dakota territory.

Picture of Chief Leonard Wabasha's interpretive sign. Ogechie Lake can be seen in the background.



Picture of Ogechie Lake, which is located one-eighth mile from Mille Lacs Lake


Video of the confluence (mdote) of the "Rum" (Wakan/Spirit) River and Mille Lacs (Wakan/Spirit) Lake