Indigenous Peoples' Rights Advocate | Initiatives & Accomplishments
by Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
I started my indigenous peoples' rights advocacy work by initiating the Rum River Name-Change Movement.
After initiating this movement I soon became the co-founder and director of
Rum River Name
Change Organization, Inc..
My advocacy work to change the derogatory name of a Minnesota river:
Our effort to
restore the sacred Dakota name Wakan (Spirit) to the "Rum River" has
received support from two Mdewakanton Dakota communities, as well as many organizations
and individuals, including several nationally and three internationally renowned Indigenous
rights activists, a Roman Catholic archbishop, bishop and MN state representative, etc.. We've also
received a letter from the Vatican and support from a representative of a UN Indigenous organization.
Many local businesses, parks, trails, etc. now have the name Spirit River, such as Spirit River Nature Area.
West Rum River Drive was changed to Spirit River Drive. And there is a Watpa Wakan Trail.
My advocacy work on a Minnesota bill to change 13 derogatory geographic place names:
At my request (now retired) Representative Mike Jaros wrote up a 2007 bill to change 13 derogatory
geographic place names. Then, after I addressed the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and received
its support for Jaros to introduce the bill to the legislature, he did so. The Council also asked
me to write a letter to the legislature expressing its support for the passage of
the bill, which I did.
My advocacy work associated with a USA Today/Arizona Republic article:
Several years ago, I was corresponding with a leader of the
national movement to restore Native names to sacred places. His name is Robert Satiacum. At the time, a USA Today/Arizona
Republic article presented our names and information about our work. The article is titled Tribes embrace native names to preserve culture.
The article is subtitled Return to original place names preserves cultures, fixes
wrongs. After this article was published, Minnesota's best-selling daily newspaper, the Star Tribune, subsequently
published an article titled Time to fix Rum River error?
My advocacy work on a Minnesota House Concurrent Resolution:
In 1992 Steven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape)
and Birgil Kills Straight (Oglala Lakota) started a campaign to set their people
free from the subjugated state of existence imposed upon indigenous peoples around the world by an
international legal construct known as the Doctrine of Discovery (DoD), a doctrine based on a
series of 15th century papal bulls. Newcomb recently met with Pope Francis to ask him to
revoke one of those infamous papal bulls Inter Caetera and to
also give the pope an article and book he authored. The campaign that Newcomb and Kills
Straight began in 1992 is now a global movement.
At my request Newcomb gave some input into
a Minnesota resolution that I, with Chief
Leonard Wabasha's supervision, wrote and Representative Dean Urdahl edited and introduced
to the MN legislature. The resolution includes a statement about the Doctrine of Discovery.
My advocacy work associated with both, 1.) a Newcomb & archbishop approved meeting
on the Doctrine of Discovery that I had with the head of a Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Commission,
and 2.) my related DoD-topic dialogue with three prominent Minnesotans:
Mr. Newcomb helped edit an environmental article of mine that I publicly posted and then
sent to the Minnesota Council Of Churches. Along with the article I also sent a personal message. In response,
Kim Olstad, the Interfaith/Multi-faith Program Director at Minnesota Council of Churches, informed me that she was involved
with a Saint Paul interfaith organization named SPIN and that it was going to present a series on the
Doctrine of Discovery, called, "Disavowing the Doctrine of Discovery." She also requested a meeting
with me.
I then sent related messages to both, Archbishop John Nienstedt, the (at the time) Head of the Saint Paul
and Minneapolis Archdiocese, and to Jason Adkins, Executive Director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference. In
the messages I stated that I believed that Minnesota was coming into the forefront of the global movement
to rectify the injustices caused by the Doctrine of Discovery.
In response to one of the messages, I received a message from Jason Adkins. We began to dialogue. I then received an indirect message from
Archbishop Nienstedt wherein he informed me that Father Erick Rutten, the Head of the Archdiocesan Commission on Ecumenism
and Interreligious Affairs would meet with me. We met and had a good dialogue session. Steven Newcomb indirectly participated
in the DoD dialogue that I had with these high ranking Roman Catholic officials.
My advocacy work associated with both, 1.) a MN sesquicentennial reconciliation event, and 2.) a Winona Daily
News guest editorial of mine about this event.
In 2008, Minnesota celebrated its Sesquicentennial. At the time, a sesquicentennial reconciliation event was held in
Winona to primarily bring the Dakota hereditary chiefs and Minnesota Governmental officials together to address issues
that have caused painful conflicts between the two groups, and to also find solutions to heal the painful wounds
that still exist-mostly for the Dakota people. During the event Chief Leonard Wabasha invited me to speak
to the two groups during a circle gathering, which I did. After the event I submitted an editorial article
about the event to the Winona Daily News. It was published. The newspaper titled it STATE LOOKS TO SETTLE UP WITH THE PAST.
My advocacy work associated with a Wikipedia promoted article of mine, entitled: A History Of The Dakota
People In Minnesota:
A Wikipedia Lakota information web page has a sentence in it that reads:
Sioux land underwent expansion...armed firearms
[3].
The reference number link [3.] goes to my article titled "A History Of The Dakota People
In Minnesota." In the NOTES section there is a sentence that reads: 3. by Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer A History Of The Dakota People In Minnesota.
My advocacy work associated with my many published letters in a Mille Lacs County newspaper:
My many letters and a few articles that have been published in a Minnesota county newspaper, the Mille Lacs Messenger,
present information about my campaign to help the Dakota Oyate regain their sacred Mille Lacs traditional ancestral
homeland and independent sovereign nation status and rights. A web page of mine presents links to
these letters and articles. It also presents some excerpts from them. The web page is titled
Regaining The
Dakota Oyate's Mille Lacs Ancestral Homeland.
My advocacy work associated with the National MultiCultural Institute's promotion of my
article entitled: Independent Indigenous Sovereign Nations:
My article
Independent Indigenous Sovereign Nations was first posted
in Indigenous Peoples Literature. Then Paul Gorski, a nationally and internationally renowned multicultural educator and activist,
posted it on his MultiCultural Pavilion digest forum. Then Amy Kasi, Program Manager for the National MultiCultural
Institute, displayed a quote from the article and a link to it in the spotlight section of the
institute’s October 2008 newsletter. In respect to my article, Amy Kasi wrote: I think it would
be a valuable resource for anyone interested in not only indigenous peoples but also the history of
the US and human rights violations in the US.
My advocacy work associated with my writing contributions to a Native news source:
Steven Newcomb is co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous Law Institute. He is a
world-renowned Indigenous rights activist. And he was a columnist for Indian Country Today
Media Network (ICTMN). This newspaper recently came to an end. It had been for years
the world's largest Native news source. This news source occasionally posted a selective comment or two on its
articles. It regularly posted
my comments on Newcomb's articles.
News:
Indian Country Today is back. It has a new owner. And for a short while many of Newcomb's old articles were posted
on its revised website. An exceptionally important article by Newbomb was on the revised ICT website and it had
one comment on it. It was my comment. It is located
here on my site. And another revised website posted old ICT article by Newcomb also has an
important comment of mine on it. It is located
here on my site.[More News: The newest ICT website only has a few of
Newcomb's articles on it. His old ICT articles no longer have comments on them. However, they are located
here on my site.]
In a
comment of mine that was posted on an ICTMN article
by Newcomb (an article that was published soon after he met with the pope) I presented the
title and some other information about an article of mine related to his article. I am
referring to my article
My advocacy work to establish a peaceful cultural revolution to set indigenous peoples free:
The Circle is the Native American newspaper of Minnesota, covering Native issues, culture
and arts for 35 years. In 2014, the world's largest Native news source published an article by the Chair of the
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. The article is titled The Truth About Our Origins
Will Set Us All Free. It has three selective comments on it. One sentence in my comment on it reads: This Kevin Leecy's article
is a sign among a number of other signs that indicate that Minnesota is coming into the forefront of the American and global movement that is shining a light on the dark chapters of colonialism, with the aim "to move beyond guilt
and anger to real healing."
My entire comment on Leecy's article is presented in an article of mine titled Reconciliation. My article
on The Circle's website is titled Healing The Dakota's Painful Wounds Of Genocide. This article was not
publicly presented in The Circle until after I wrote and posted an article titled
New Age Panentheism. Its first sentence reads:
It appears to me that the whole world is moving toward the acceptance and practice of a One World Religion that will
be similar to the Lakota religion.
News: On March 30, 2018, the Union Times, a newspaper that covers news in
Mille Lacs and Sherburne counties, published the following [linked to] letter of mine. It includes much of the information in the
above two paragraphs. It calls for the governor of Minnesota to establishment a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A commission
that would start a peaceful cultural revolution that would set Indigenous Peoples free. The letter was given the title
Let real healing begin, continue
This letter (with reference links)
is also posted on my website. I entitled it Establishing A Peaceful
Cultural Revolution.
More News: On July 11, 2018, I received Mark Charles' approval to present links to his
articles and videos on my website. Mr. Charles is the son of a Navajo man and a woman of Dutch heritage. The introduction speaker to
one of Mr. Charles' video recorded lectures
to a large Christian audience said: "He is one of our nation's leading voices articulating the need for First Nations reconciliation." An
excellent video of his on this (mentioned above) Truth and Reconciliation Commission topic is located
here.
My advocacy work associated with an article of mine that is presented on the Republic of Lakotah's website.
The Republic of Lakotah is a sovereign Lakota territory advocated for by the late Russell Means (1939-2012).
Mr. Means was an internationally renowned Oglala Lakota activists. I once spoke on the phone with Russell Means. He gave his
written support for the effort to restore the sacred Lakota/Dakota/Nakota name Wakan to the badlly named "Rum River."
He also gave his support for my environmental activist work in the "Rum"
(Wakan/
Wahkon) River Watershed. After his death his Lakota friends took over the management of the Republic of Lakotah's site. My article
entitled
Ending Catholicism And Related U.S. Imperialism is
presented on this site. This article (plus reference links) is also located here. A related article is located here. A related letter is located here.
My advocacy work associated with both, 1.) Tom Wisner's nation-wide radio broadcasted support for my effort
to restore the sacred Dakota-Lakota-Nakota name to the badly named "Rum" River, and 2.) Mr. Wisner's related support for
my "Rum (Wahkon) River Watershed" Native eco-spirituality inspired environmental activist/advocate mission..
Tom Wisner (1930-2010) was a nationally renowned singer, song writer and environmentalist. He made
the movement to restore the sacred Dakota-Lakota-Nakota name to the badly named "Rum" River the centerpiece
of his 2005 Winter Solstice radio broadcast, a two hour show that was presented live on the radio and internet.
He also gave his support for my "Rum (Wahkon) River Watershed"
environmental mission.
Mr. Wisner was known nationally for his song "Chesapeake Born," a song which, during his life time, became
the title song for the 1986 National Geographic Special on the Bay region. Wisner's classroom techniques
were filmed by Washington-area NBC-TV and other stations, and he received national, state, and local awards for
excellence in teaching. He was given citations by two governors and was named a major figure in land-conservation
work by President Reagan's Commission on the Out-of-Door.
My advocacy work associated with Hippyland's promotion of my article entitled: UN, Natives And Hippies Unite
To Save The World:
I recently posted an article
here on Hippyland's "New Age" forum. Hippyland is an
over 290,000 registered members interactive website. Its founder and webmaster is Skip Stone. Skip added his "like" to the
article and then initiated e-mail correspondence with me. We have been occasionally corresponding for years. He has my
article
UN, Natives And Hippies Unite To Save The World prominently displayed
on his Hippyland site. It is located
here on my site, including reference links and pictures.
My advocacy work associated with an article of mine that the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community,
at my request, posted on its facebook site.
On June 17, 2017, the title of my article Fighting Racism Against Natives In Mille Lacs County, MN, plus the link to it, along with a map highlighting Mille
Lacs County, was posted here on the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community's facebook site.
