Note: This alliance has been, at least temporarily, discontinued because of a disagreement
I have with Jim Anderson, Chairman of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, a disagreement
associated with a radical distortion of the Dakotas true history. reference
History of the Anoka Dakota Unity Alliance
By Thomas Dahlheimer
On July 14, 2007 the Anoka County Historical Society hosted an event to commemorate Anoka County's
sesquicentennial. It was held in
conjunction with Anoka's annual "Riverfest and Craft Fair". The event draws attention to, as well as
celebrates Anoka's historic river,
the "Rum River". Unfortunately, this river has a profane and controversial name. It is believed that
the sacred Dakota name for this
historic river (Wakan), which when translated into English means Spirit or Great Spirit, was mistranslated in a punning
way by early 18th century white fur
traders to mean the spirituous liquor (rum), and that this is how it received its current profane
name.
There is a growing local, national and international
movement
to change the name of this river back to its sacred Dakota name. On
June 10, 2007, Thomas Dahlheimer, the activist who is spearheading the river name-changing
movement, asked the
City of Anoka and Anoka County Historical Society officials if Jim Anderson, the Cultural Chair and
Historian for the Mendota
Mdewakanton Dakota Community, could set up two tepees in Anoka, preferably near the historic river,
but secondly at the Anoka County
Historical Society Center (ACHC), and display interpretive text and signage about Dakota culture and
history. Permission was
granted and Anderson set up a tepee and taught Dakota culture and history.
Prior to this request, Mr. Anderson had written a letter of support for the Mendota Mdewakanton
Dakota Community. In this letter his community expressed its support for the
effort to
change the name of the river back to its sacred Dakota name. Therefore, when Dahlheimer asked the
City of Anoka and Anoka County Historical
Society officials if Anderson could set up tepees in Anoka they knew that Dahlheimer
was attempting to help the Dakota people make inroads into Anoka for the purpose of helping Anoka
residents understand that the river and
land on both sides of it are considered sacred to the Dakota people, as well as for gaining support
for the effort to change the name of
the river. And also for helping Anoka residents understand that a significant number of the Dakota
people could return to their sacred
ancestral homeland territory now known as Anoka, to reverently celebrate and protect this sacred
site of theirs. And that if this occurs,
many Anoka residents will be changing their lifestyles in order to give due respect for the Dakota's
cultural and spiritual
sensitivities.
Dahlheimer also informed the officials about the Winona Dakota Unity Alliance and its annual Great
Dakota Gathering & Homecoming event
held in Winona Minnesota. He also told them about his desire to establish a similar alliance in Anoka,
an alliance that would also plan,
sponsor, and coordinate annual Great Dakota Gatherings & Homecoming events. Once a year a growing
number of the Dakota people whose
ancestors were driven from Minnesota after the 1862 Dakota conflict are coming from Nebraska, North
and South Dakota, Montana and
Canada to gather together and celebrate their return to their sacred traditional homeland in Winona.
Dahlheimer also informed Jim Anderson and Leonard Wabasha, a prominent Mdewakanton Dakota hereditary chief and
a leading activist for the Dakota people, about his desire to establish
an alliance in Anoka, a geographic location that the Dakota people once claimed as a part of their
sacred homeland territory. And since
they were forced from this area in the eighteenth century they have claimed it as a part of their
traditional and ancestral homeland.
Hence, the initiative to establish an Anoka Dakota Unity Alliance was made known to prominent members
of both communities. And a short
while later the Anoka Dakota Unity Alliance was established.
Since its establishment progress toward accomplishing its mission of bringing full unity and
reconciliation to both communities has been
continuous and glorious.
Purpose
To promote unity and reconciliation between Anoka residents and the Dakota people, by planning,
sponsoring and coordinating unity and
reconciliation ceremonies as well as cross-cultural and educational programs, for the purpose of
bringing the two communities together
to enhance our appreciation of our shared heritage in Anoka and to plan for a glorious future where
both communities will be reconciled
and united in a city that will serve as a model for other cities seeking to resolve differences and
unite with Native people.
Provide a forum to express grievances associated with past injustices committed against the Dakota
people and offer solutions to heal
the wounds inflicted on them by past injustices. Also, provide a forum to express present-day
grievances as well as offer solutions to
rectify the injustices.
Provide unity and reconciliation ceremonies as well as cross-cultural and educational programs to
help build a unity and reconciliation
bridge. A bridge that will put an end to the cultural gap that separates us, by bring us together
in justice and peace, and assisting our
different cultures and spiritualities to blend into a harmonious unity, a process and end result
that will enrich both communities.
To dedicate city park land in Anoka to be used exclusively for unity ceremonies, cross-cultural
and educational programs
as well as to display interpretive text and signage about Dakota culture and history in general
and specific to Anoka.
History of the Dakota people on their sacred river
The Dakota name for the lake that their sacred Wakan river flows out of is Wakan,
which when translated means Spirit or Great Spirit. French colonizers
named the lake Mille Lacs. This lake figures prominently in Dakota creation stories. The lake
is considered sacred because, according
one Dakota creation story the Dakota people emerged from it as human beings into this world.
In 1656, the Dakota were living at the headwaters of the river in five villages numbering about
5,000 people. On about July 1 hunters,
250 in number, departed, as was their custom at that time of year, to hunt the buffalo on the
prairies of southern Minnesota. While
canoeing down the Wakpa Wakan (Great Spirit River) they would stop and camp along
the way at their favored locations. The rendezvous
was at the confluence of the Wakan and Mississippi rivers, or at their people's sacred
site now known as Anoka. In early
fall they would return to their villages to gather wild rice, once again making their way up the
beautiful Wakan. During
their semiannual journeys up and down their sacred river they would reverently commune with it.
Besides the journeys, there were also
smaller groups of Dakotas frequently going on hunting trips down the river. The Dakota were in
continual reverent communion
with their sacred river as well as with their sacred land on both sides of it.
The name Anoka was derived from the Dakota word a-no-ka-tan-han, meaning on both sides of the river.
Having been forced from
their villages at the headwaters of the Wakan, the Dakota moved to the Minnesota and
lower Mississippi river valleys. After being
forced from their sacred homeland territory some Dakotas would occasionally return to try to regain
the region. After about thirty
years and two major battles with a band of Ojibwe they did not return again to try to regain their
sacred homeland territory. White
settlers and a band of Ojibwe then took full possession of their sacred homeland territory,
including their sacred river.
As previously mentioned, the Wakpa Wakan has spiritual importance to the Dakotas. It
was a spiritual tradition of remembrance
for a family member to cut the hair of a deceased relative and bury it on the south facing bank of
the river. The Dakota people believe
that they belong to the sacred river and that it is a relative, and a "living" relative, to be
treated with reverence and great
respect.
The first Anoka Dakota Unity Alliance initiative
Initiative: Replace incorrect information currently displayed on the city's website with correct
information. Information concerning
[who] pushed the Dakota people from their sacred homeland territory, including the land now known
as Anoka. The alliance is working with
Vickie Wendell, the Program Manager for the Anoka County Historical Center and a member of the
Anoka County Historical Society's Board
of Directors, to accomplish this initiative.
Currently, information on the city's website state's that: "Prior to the 1800's, the area
surrounding Anoka was claimed by the Dakota,
but later the Ojibwa pushed the Dakota westward across the Mississippi." The alliance believes that
the Dakotas once claimed the area
surrounding Anoka, or the "Rum River" watershed area, including the land now known as Anoka. However,
the alliance believes that the
Ojibwe were not [primarily] responsible for pushing the Dakota from their sacred homeland territory;
and that, therefore, the city's
website information falsely accuses, for the most part, the wrong people for pushing the Dakota
from their sacred homeland territory.
This contributes to the present-day alienation that some Dakota and Ojibwe people feel toward each
other. White people of European descent
were [primarily] responsible for forcing the Dakota from their sacred homeland territory. The
incorrect information on Anoka's
website unjustifiably sets white Euro-Americans free from guilt for what their ancestors did. And
this sets them
free from feeling any need to offer restitution to both the Dakota and Ojibwe people.
A United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) document as well as information displayed on the
United Nations Permanent Forum On Indigenous
Issues (UNPFII) website presents what the alliance believes to be the true historical account of
[who] forced, or rather [who] stole,
the Dakota's sacred homeland territory, including the area now known as Anoka. The WCAR, UNPFII
and the alliance believe that all of
the land that the indigenous people of America owned was stolen from them by (first) European
colonizers and (later) by the United
States. And like the WCAR and UNPFII the alliance believes that it was stolen in a similar way and for the same reasons.
The alliance believes that the WCAR information about how the Native people's land was stolen will
soon be published in, and broadcast
from, mainstream news media outlets. This will likely occur when the City of Anoka replaces the
incorrect and white racist information
that it currently has displayed on its website with information that tells the
correct historical
account of [who] was [primarily]
responsible for forcing the Dakota people from their sacred homeland territory.
Three more alliance initiatives
Because the alliance believes that the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church was [primarily] responsible
for stealing the Dakota's
Wakan/"Rum" River watershed homeland territory, Mr. Dahlheimer, the current executive
director of the alliance and parishioner
of the Church of Saint
Stephen in Anoka, decided, with the support of the other members of the alliance, to meet and speak
with Father Mike Van Sloun, the
Pastor of the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka, about the alliance's mission to reconcile and unite
the residents of Anoka and the
Dakota people. And to also inform him about the following three alliance initiatives:
(1.) Inspire the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka to conduct blended spirituality services on the
historic river.
(2.) To inspire Fr. Van Sloun to write an apology letter for the Roman Catholic Church's past
injustices committed against the Dakota
people in the Anoka area. A letter that would apologize for two fifteenth century Papal Bulls
being [primarily] responsible for the
theft of the Dakota people's land in Anoka. Fr. Van Sloun said he could write an apology letter,
but that he would first need to get
permission from his bishop Archbishop Harry Flynn. The Most Reverend Archbishop Harry Flynn supports
the mission to change the
historic river's derogatory name.
(3.) To also inspire Fr. Van Sloun to help Dahlheimer and Jim Anderson, a leading Dakota activist,
to establish and teach a seminar to
help reconcile and unite Church of Saint Stephen parishioners with the Dakota people. The meeting
with Fr. Van Sloun occurred and great
progress was made.
For over a decade, Fr. Van Sloun has been following the progress of Dahlheimer's Roman Catholic
social and political activist ministry
to change the profane and derogatory name of the "Rum River" back to its sacred Dakota name
Wakan. Before Dahlhiemer even knew that the
"Rum River" name was a profanation of the sacred Dakota name for the river, Fr. Van Sloun had been
following the progress of Dahlheimer's
[worldview around the name Wakan] prophetic globalization ministry. It is a ministry
wherein he teaches and promotes his Catholic
globalization expression of the youth of the 1960s counter-cultural revolution. On a number of occasions he has
referred to Dahlheimer as a "prophet".
Fr. Van Sloun supports the mission to change the historic river's profane name.
Progress associated with the first initiative
Prior to the official establishment of the alliance, Dahlheimer had a conversation with Vickie
Wendell. He told Wendell about his historic
revisionist account of [who] was [primarily] responsible for forcing the Dakota from their sacred
homeland territory. Wendell then stated,
"the Ojibwe got some help" forcing the Dakota from their homeland territory.
Future progress
Hopefully, in the future, Anoka will display its own presentation of the following information on
its website:
The Dakota once claimed all of the Wakan River watershed area as their sovereign homeland territory,
including the land now know as Anoka.
But then in 1687, Daniel DuLuth, a French explorer, upon discovering the great village of the Dakota,
a village located at the headwaters of
the Wakan River set up the arms of his majesty in token of a claim by right of discovery. By doing
so, he claimed the Dakota's sacred homeland
territory as
French territory, including the land now known as Anoka. When he did this he was following the edicts
of his Pope and King, or abiding by the
Christian Doctrine of Discovery. After this occurred the Dakota people's sacred homeland territory
"belonged" to France and no other European
nation's explorer could claim the Dakota's homeland territory for his nation, provided French
colonist
settlers
subjugated the Dakota and
annexed their land, which they could do by forcing the Dakota from their sacred homeland
territory.
Then about 1745 this occurred during a violent attack. A newly arrived band of Ojibwe were in Dakota
territory and were at war with the
long established Dakota. French settlers took advantage of the situation and allied with the band of
Ojibwe who were in Dakota territory
by giving them gun powder. The Ojibwe, with the help of the white men's gun powder, then violently
force the Dakota from their villages
located at the headwaters of the Wakan River. The Dakota, then, unwillingly moved to the Minnesota
and lower Mississippi river valleys.
The Dakota people had been subjugated and their land annexed.
After being forced from their sacred homeland territory some of the Dakotas would occasionally travel
to the confluence of the Wakan
and Mississippi rivers and stay for a while. They considered the land now know as Anoka to be a
sacred site. After staying a short
while at this sacred site they would sometimes go up the Wakan River on hunting expeditions and war
parties to regain their sacred
homeland territory. Unfortunately, after about thirty years and two major battles with this same
band of Ojibwe they left and did
not return again to their sacred homeland territory.
White settlers exploited red indigenous people by ruthlessly spreading the disease of alcoholism
amongst many native tribes during the
fur trade era. This caused excessive competition
between the tribes trading furs for alcohol, which caused intertribal wars, such as the
Wakan River Watershed Area Ojibwe/Dakota wars. After causing intertribal wars they often used the
newly arrived tribes to drive the long
established tribes from their sacred homelands, which they were very attached to because of ancestral
ties, sacred sites and often creation
stories. Because of these attachment sentiments the long established tribes were harder to
manipulate and exploit within their sacred
homeland territories than the newly arrived tribes. White settlers, therefore, often used the
newly arrived tribes to force the long
established tribes from their sacred homelands. This is one reason why white men used a band of
Ojibwe to force the Dakota from their
sacred Wakan River Watershed homeland territory.
Forcing the long established tribes from their sacred homelands separated them from a very
important part of their traditional
religions. This made it easier for white "Christian" colonizers to convert them to "Christianity"
as well as to assimilate them
into their "civilized" culture. This is another reason why white men used a band of Ojibwe to force
the Dakota from their sacred
Wakan River Watershed homeland territory. The fifteenth century Papal Bull, Inter Caetera,
instructed Christian settlers to "subjugate the
barbaric nations, and bring them to the faith". Native American Indians to this present-day
are a [subjugated] people. They cannot own land
or have independent sovereignty nations rights, which are two fundamental human rights
And forcing tribes that had lived in an area for a long time from their sacred homeland territories
in order to make it easier to
"Christianize" them was radical state sponsored "Christian" religious persecution of red indigenous
people. The Dakota people who were
forced from their sacred Wakan River Watershed homeland territory are still suffering from religious
persecution. They are still exiled
from their sacred Wakan River Watershed homeland territory. It is still occupied by the descendents
of the white invaders who stole it
from them. And the current white occupiers are still radically desecrating their sacred Wakan
River Watershed homeland territory.
As long they remain exiled from their sacred Wakan River Watershed homeland territory they will
continue to experience religious
persecution, including separation from their traditional sacred sites as well as partial separation
from their Great Spirit and
spirits (gods). The Dakota's Mde Wakan (Spirit Lake) and Wakpa Wakan
(Spirit River) were like temples or churches
to the Dakota people. And they have a creation story associated with their Spirit Lake. The Dakota
originally believed that they were placed
on earth to live in and care for this sacred body of water (lake/river) and its immediate region.
After being exciled from their homeland they
lost this belief. However, the alliance believes that many of the Dakota people will re-acquire
this belief as they return to their sacred
traditional and ancestral homeland.
Historical information on the Minnesota DNR
website states: "Early White/Indian intervention played an
important role in the settlement
of the area by white men. The French instigated fights between the Ojibwe and the Dakota so as
to ally themselves with the Ojibwe." After
white men used the Ojibwe to force the Dakota from their sacred homeland territory the Ojibwe were
not given any of the land as their own.
They were only given a part of it to live on. It "belonged" to France, then Britain, and it now
"belongs" to the United States. The Dakota
were indirectly forced by white men from their sacred homeland territory, including the land now
known as Anoka.
History of the Dakota near their sacred river
Before and during the 1862 Dakota conflict there was a Dakota band located not far from the
Wakan/"Rum" River. Hockokadute
(Red Middle Voice) was the chief of the Rice Creek band of Dakotas whose village was located
at the mouth of Rice Creek in Anoka County.
After being forced from their sacred Wakan/"Rum" River watershed homeland territory
the Dakota people, including Hockokadute
and his band, were increasingly in contact with white settlers. From then on it was a constant
struggle for the Dakotas. They had plenty of
food to eat when they lived in their sacred Wakan/"Rum" River watershed homeland
territory. But now years later and still
exiled from their food plentiful homeland, food shortages coupled by late annuity payments from
the government caused widespread hunger.
Frustration and hunger led to foraging. One Dakota foraging party attacked a family of settlers
near Acton, MN on August 17th, 1862. With
three men and two women dead, the Dakota gathered. Hockokadute and some members of his band
somehow managed to convince the Dakota leader
Little Crow (Taoyateduta) that the time to go to war against the settlers was at hand. Thus began
the Dakota Conflict.
It was mostly the members of the Rice Creek band who scattered throughout the white invaders'
settlements administrating justice for
the terrible atrocities committed against the Dakota people. This just war was meant to punish
the white invaders with the intent to
discourage more white racist atrocities from being committed against the Dakota people. They
were also trying to regain all of their
land that the white invaders had stolen and desecrated. In addition, they were also trying to
preserve their culture, religion and
language, which the white invaders were destroying.
The white invaders indirectly forced the Dakota from their sacred Wakan/"Rum" River
watershed homeland territory and then,
just prior to the 1862 conflict, they were trying to nearly starve the Dakota people to death
and were also mocking them. This caused the
1862 conflict to begin. After it came to an end, thirty-eight Dakota people were brutally and
unmercifully hanged in Mankato. They were
largely of Hockokadute's band. It was to his village that brave Dakota warriors of the
1862 war first retreated after their last defeat
at New Ulm. Here, at the Rice Creek village, were gathered about 1,000 lodges. They remained at
this place until a day or two after the
battle of Birch Cooley, then they moved west in a train two or three miles long.
The white invaders used the newly arrived Ojibwe tribe to violently force the Dakota from their
sacred homeland territory. During the violent
terrorist attract and annexation of the Dakota people from their villages at the headwaters
of the Wakan/"Rum" River many
women and children were massacred. The alliance believes that Hockokadute and his Rice Creek
band believed that it was their
responsibility to instigate the war and fight in it. If the white invaders had not continued
to commit radical
injustices against the Dakota, there would not have been a 1862 conflict and a Dakota band would
probably still be located at the mouth of
Rice Creek in Anoka County. A location not far from the heart of their traditional/ancestral
homeland territory, where they could be easily
traveling to, to reverently commune with their sacred river in Anoka.
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