Post by Okwes on Dec 9, 2005 10:15:55 GMT -5
Please support this international movement to change Minnesota's Rum
River back to its Sacred Mdowakanton Dakota name (Mdo-te-min-wakan)
translated as mouth (of river) + water + sacred.
The website also has a petition you can sign at the bottom of the
homepage.
Website: www.towahkon.org
Thank you for your support for this cause!
Tamra
www.NDNNews.com
In Minnesota, "the land of ten thousand lakes", there is a large and
beautiful lake named Mille Lacs. Its outlet river is named Rum. The
Sioux name for the Rum River is Mdo-te-Mi-ni-Wakan, translated mouth (of
river) + water + sacred.
According to historical documents found in, "Minnesota Geographic
Names", a book written by Warren Upham, and published by the Minnesota
Historical Society... in the late 1700s, white men gave the Rum River
its current name by way of a "punning translation" that "perverted the
ancient Sioux name Wakan".
When the white men preformed the "punning translation" they did so by
mis-translating the name Wakan in the Sioux's sacred compound name
Mdo-te-Mi-ni-Wakan, a name that means sacred (or spirit) to mean an
alcohol spirit, the alcohol spirit rum.
Hence the word spirit, a word that has different definitions was use in
a punning way to mis-translate the sacred Sioux name for the river. The
white men then took their faulty-translation word (rum) and
unfortunately used it to name the river Rum. And in doing so, they
"perverted the ancient Sioux name Wakan".
And because the sacred name Wakan is derived from the sacred Sioux name
for their Great Spirit (Wakan-Tonka), the Rum River's current name also
desecrates the Sioux name for their Great Spirit. In a 1868 St. Paul
Daily Pioneer article, the Rum River name is listed, along with some
other geographic names, as "Profane". When referring to the Rum River's
name, an excerpt from a 1868 St. Paul Daily Pioneer article reads: "The
'profane name' was already in use by some in 1861, as was the animosity
toward the native people of Minnesota."
I became aware of this profanation of the Sioux name for the Rum River
some twenty five years ago. And then a few years ago I established a
movement to change the profane name. It quickly gained support from
national organizations, and even the an international Catholic Native
American organization (the Tekakwitha Conference) has given its support
for my efforts to change the river's name. Also, the Unite Nations'
Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues supports the
efforts to change the river's name.
When I discovered this profanation of the Sioux name Wakan, I was
participating in an - influenced by Merton - counter-cultural movement
with a world-view behind the word wakan. And because my involvement in
this world-view movement was a very influential factor as to why I
initiated the Rum River name-change proposal, I therefore believe that
it is fitting at this time to present a brief history of my involvement
in this world-view movement behind the word wakan.
The world-view movement behind the word wakan originated as a part of
the 1960s youth counter-cultural globalization revolution. A revolution
with a mission to establish a single united global culture, a culture
made up of the best of the past of all different people's cultures and
traditions. A culture wherein, we hoped, all of humanity would
eventually be united. This movement was founded on lyrics within the
Beatles' song Imagine: "hope you join us and the world will be as one".
And this movement is still active. Near Summertown, Tennessee, there is
a 250-member and very successful youth of the 1960s counter-cultural
commune with a world-view behind the word wakan. Its founder and leader
(Stephen Gaskin) is internationally known and his commune has gained
national recognition as a creditable environmental organization.
The Sioux are used to portray all Native American tribes in Hollywood,
anyone wanting to see a "real Indian" wants to see a war bonnet and a
tipi. Therefore, I believe that the world psychic views all Native
Americans as Sioux; and that when people watch the traditional Hollywood
movies about Native Americans they often hear the Sioux using the word
wakan (sacred), or the combined words Wakan-Tonka (Spirit-Great). Hence,
a lot of people throughout the world believe that the word wakan and the
name Wakan-Tonka are used by all Native Americans. Stephen Gaskin once
wrote: "The word wakan has a strong and universal concept and people all
around the world know something about it."
And the word wakan is used by a lot of Native American tribes, bands,
and villages throughout America. Thirteen Hopi villages, thirteen Sioux
tribes, and a few other siouan speaking tribes use the word wakan for
sacred. And because those of us of the counter culture's single united
global-culturalism movement believe that Native American culture has the
most valuable features of all cultures, features such as kinship
tribalism, an ecological spirituality, a charismatic
spirituality...etc., and also because we have therefore made it the
predominant culture of our movement, we therefore describe our movement
as a world-view movement behind the word wakan.
And it is by way of this movement that we are promoting respect for
traditional Native American culture and spirituality. And we are doing
so by showing respect for the sacred multi-tribal Native American word
wakan.
In 1983, I attended the Tekakwitha Conference held at St. John's College
in Minnesota. The Tekakwitha Conference is a Catholic Native American
conference representing over 300 tribes. At the conference, a missionary
Priest (Stanislaus Maudin) addressed the conference and said: "There is
a whole world-view behind the word wakan".
And during that same conference I was interviewed by Father Matthew Fox.
At the time Fox was the international leader of the Catholic Church's
single united global-culturalism movement. And at the beginning of the
interview Fox told me that Thomas Merton had asked him to reach out to
the youth of the 1960s counter cultural revolution with the intent to
help them find the truth and live holy lives. And then Fox asked me, a
counter cultural revolutionary, what I thought about this connection
with Merton. I then responded by telling him about my strongly
influenced by Thomas Merton counter-cultural and Catholic world-view
movement behind the word wakan. And near the end of the interview Fox
ask me to keep in touch with him, so as to keep him informed about the
progress of my counter-cultural and Catholic world-view movement behind
the word wakan.
And during a Mr. & Mrs. I. C. Rainbow family reunion. A reunion that
took place not long after my meeting with Father Matthew Fox my uncle
Don Rainbow addressed the seventeen families gathered at that Rainbow
family reunion and said: " A Rainbow is a sign of God's salvation plan
and I believe that we may be used to glorify God more than any other
family in the world." He made this very grandiose statement after I
spoke to him about both my meeting with Matthew Fox and my vision of our
family coming together in kinship tribalism in order to promote the
tribal way and to also promote my expression of the counter-culture's
world-view behind the word wakan movement.
And then years later I met and became friends with Chris McCloud, an
internationally renown song writer who in the 1960s socialized with Paul
McCarthy and other world-wide known counter cultural leaders. When
McCloud was socializing with McCarthy he, like myself, was of the
strongly influenced by Thomas Merton Catholic expression of the counter
culture's single united global-culturalism movement, and he is still of
the Catholic expression to this present day.
And in the 1960s, I met and became friends with Richard Carter. At the
time, Carter was a San Francisco Bay area leader of the counter cultural
revolution and he occasionally met with Stephen Gaskin. When Gaskin and
his commune moved to Summertown Tennessee, Carter his wife (Louis) and
myself moved to Wahkon, Minnesota. The move was temporary for the
Carters but permanent for myself. Now-a-days, Richard Carter is an
internationally renown environmentalist and one of the Governor of
Arizona's top environmental advisers.
My 1983 Tekakwitha Conference and Rainbow family reunion experiences,
along with my friendship experiences with both Richard Carter and Chris
McCloud , inspired me to increase my dedication to my mission of
promoting my expression of the counter-culture's world-view behind the
word wakan movement, and to do so, by showing respect for the
multi-tribal Native American word wakan. And in order to show due
respect for the sacred Native American word wakan, I (as previously
mentioned) established a movement to change the derogatory name of the
Rum River, a name that I believe desecrates the sacred Sioux name Wakan.
I laid the foundation for establishing my Rum River name-change movement
by contacting Minnesota's DNR official in charge of both opening up
name-change processes, as well as guiding citizens trying to change
derogatory geographic names.
After he officially opened up the Rum River geographic name-change
process and started guiding me, I started building a support base for my
geographic name-change movement.
I established a nonprofit corporation. And I also created a web site to
help me build a support base. My web site address is: www.towahkon.org.
And the headquarters of my geographic name-change organization are
located in Wahkon, Minnesota.
The only activist opposition to my name-change proposal came from
Wahkon, Minnesota's former City Council.
My efforts to change the river's name has received support from the
following organizations and individuals. In addition, a Mdewakanton
Sioux band and Sioux college are also on the list of supporters.
* Upper Sioux, a band of Mdewakanton Sioux. This band is one of four
Minnesota Mdewakanton
Sioux bands. The ancestors of these bands named the badly named Rum
River Mdoteminiwakan.
* Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, a non-federally recognized 250-
member Mdewakanton Dakota
(or Sioux) tribe.
* Cankdeska Cikana Community College, a Sioux college established to
bring higher education
opportunities to the people of the Spirit Lake Tribe.
* Tekakwitha Conference, an international Catholic Native American
Catholic organization. 172 tribes
were represented at the 2003 annual Tekakwitha Conference. This
conference's prayer circles, called
Kateri Prayer Circles, have been formed on nearly all U.S. reservations
and in many Indian urban
centers.
* United Nations' Secretariat of the Permanent Forum On Indigenous
Issues.
* National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans.
* Joe Day, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council.
* Russell Means, an internationally renown American Indian activist.
* Pat Albers, Chair of the University of Minnesota's American Indian
Studies Department.
* Don Wedll, an American Indian rights activist who is well known
throughout the state of Minnesota.
* Paul Gorski, an internationally renown multiculturalist who was voted
onto the 5-member Executive
Committee of the National Association for Multicultural Education.
* Barbara Gerner De Garcia, the Secretary of the Executive Committee of
the board for the National
Association for Multicultural Education.
* Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
* University Creation Spirituality, this University's Creation
Spirituality movement seeks to
integrate the wisdom of western spirituality and global indigenous
cultures with the emerging
scientific understanding of the universe.
* Matthew Fox, an internationally renown Christian theologian. Fox is
also the founder and
president of University Creation Spirituality.
* Pax Christi USA.
* Pax Christi Minnesota.
* National Trust Historic Preservation supports my efforts to revitalize
the Sioux's interest in
their heritage in the "Wakan River" area. The NTHP is a national
non-profit organization that
provides leadership, education and advocacy to save our nation's divers
historic places and
revitalize our communities.
* AymaraNet, a South American organization with the world's only
internet site with information
on the Aymaras in Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Ecuador.
* KOLA, an international human rights organization that helps indigenous
communities throughout
the world to rectify injustices inflicted upon them by non-indigenous
people living in their
homelands.
* Efforts to change the geographic name have also received support from
thirty pastors of Christian churches located within the Rum River area.
In my effort to change the river's name I have found that there is
almost unanimous support for the name change by Christian ministers.
In addition, a subcommittee of the Minnesota Historical Society's Indian
Affairs Committee just recently recommended that the MHS's Indian
Affairs Committee discuss the name-change issue at their next meeting.
And they might also decide to support the name-change at that meeting.
I believe that by drawing attention to my Rum River name change
initiative "white guilt" will increase, because of a heightened
awareness of the catastrophic consequences caused by white settlers
introducing and selling alcohol to Native Americans; and that this
increase of "white guilt" will, in a lot of ways, cause white
Euro-Americans to offer all Native Americans their long over due
restitution justice. Especially when it comes to making amends to help
Native Americans to free themselves from the plague of alcoholism.
And I believe that due to the wide-spread acceptance of our nation's
multicultural movement it will only be a short period of time before the
derogatory Rum River name is changed.
A lot of people are active participants in our nation's popular
multicultural movement, and through multicultural education and activism
people learn to appreciate others more and understand others more; and
that by doing so, they become better people. And because through
multiculturalism people acquired an increased respect for people of
other cultures, they therefore initiate and support movements to change
derogatory names. I believe that it is primarily due to our nation's
popular multicultural movement that many derogatory names have already
been changed, and that because of the wide spread acceptance of
multiculturalism our nation has already become a better place to live.
www.aaanativearts.com/article682.html
River back to its Sacred Mdowakanton Dakota name (Mdo-te-min-wakan)
translated as mouth (of river) + water + sacred.
The website also has a petition you can sign at the bottom of the
homepage.
Website: www.towahkon.org
Thank you for your support for this cause!
Tamra
www.NDNNews.com
In Minnesota, "the land of ten thousand lakes", there is a large and
beautiful lake named Mille Lacs. Its outlet river is named Rum. The
Sioux name for the Rum River is Mdo-te-Mi-ni-Wakan, translated mouth (of
river) + water + sacred.
According to historical documents found in, "Minnesota Geographic
Names", a book written by Warren Upham, and published by the Minnesota
Historical Society... in the late 1700s, white men gave the Rum River
its current name by way of a "punning translation" that "perverted the
ancient Sioux name Wakan".
When the white men preformed the "punning translation" they did so by
mis-translating the name Wakan in the Sioux's sacred compound name
Mdo-te-Mi-ni-Wakan, a name that means sacred (or spirit) to mean an
alcohol spirit, the alcohol spirit rum.
Hence the word spirit, a word that has different definitions was use in
a punning way to mis-translate the sacred Sioux name for the river. The
white men then took their faulty-translation word (rum) and
unfortunately used it to name the river Rum. And in doing so, they
"perverted the ancient Sioux name Wakan".
And because the sacred name Wakan is derived from the sacred Sioux name
for their Great Spirit (Wakan-Tonka), the Rum River's current name also
desecrates the Sioux name for their Great Spirit. In a 1868 St. Paul
Daily Pioneer article, the Rum River name is listed, along with some
other geographic names, as "Profane". When referring to the Rum River's
name, an excerpt from a 1868 St. Paul Daily Pioneer article reads: "The
'profane name' was already in use by some in 1861, as was the animosity
toward the native people of Minnesota."
I became aware of this profanation of the Sioux name for the Rum River
some twenty five years ago. And then a few years ago I established a
movement to change the profane name. It quickly gained support from
national organizations, and even the an international Catholic Native
American organization (the Tekakwitha Conference) has given its support
for my efforts to change the river's name. Also, the Unite Nations'
Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues supports the
efforts to change the river's name.
When I discovered this profanation of the Sioux name Wakan, I was
participating in an - influenced by Merton - counter-cultural movement
with a world-view behind the word wakan. And because my involvement in
this world-view movement was a very influential factor as to why I
initiated the Rum River name-change proposal, I therefore believe that
it is fitting at this time to present a brief history of my involvement
in this world-view movement behind the word wakan.
The world-view movement behind the word wakan originated as a part of
the 1960s youth counter-cultural globalization revolution. A revolution
with a mission to establish a single united global culture, a culture
made up of the best of the past of all different people's cultures and
traditions. A culture wherein, we hoped, all of humanity would
eventually be united. This movement was founded on lyrics within the
Beatles' song Imagine: "hope you join us and the world will be as one".
And this movement is still active. Near Summertown, Tennessee, there is
a 250-member and very successful youth of the 1960s counter-cultural
commune with a world-view behind the word wakan. Its founder and leader
(Stephen Gaskin) is internationally known and his commune has gained
national recognition as a creditable environmental organization.
The Sioux are used to portray all Native American tribes in Hollywood,
anyone wanting to see a "real Indian" wants to see a war bonnet and a
tipi. Therefore, I believe that the world psychic views all Native
Americans as Sioux; and that when people watch the traditional Hollywood
movies about Native Americans they often hear the Sioux using the word
wakan (sacred), or the combined words Wakan-Tonka (Spirit-Great). Hence,
a lot of people throughout the world believe that the word wakan and the
name Wakan-Tonka are used by all Native Americans. Stephen Gaskin once
wrote: "The word wakan has a strong and universal concept and people all
around the world know something about it."
And the word wakan is used by a lot of Native American tribes, bands,
and villages throughout America. Thirteen Hopi villages, thirteen Sioux
tribes, and a few other siouan speaking tribes use the word wakan for
sacred. And because those of us of the counter culture's single united
global-culturalism movement believe that Native American culture has the
most valuable features of all cultures, features such as kinship
tribalism, an ecological spirituality, a charismatic
spirituality...etc., and also because we have therefore made it the
predominant culture of our movement, we therefore describe our movement
as a world-view movement behind the word wakan.
And it is by way of this movement that we are promoting respect for
traditional Native American culture and spirituality. And we are doing
so by showing respect for the sacred multi-tribal Native American word
wakan.
In 1983, I attended the Tekakwitha Conference held at St. John's College
in Minnesota. The Tekakwitha Conference is a Catholic Native American
conference representing over 300 tribes. At the conference, a missionary
Priest (Stanislaus Maudin) addressed the conference and said: "There is
a whole world-view behind the word wakan".
And during that same conference I was interviewed by Father Matthew Fox.
At the time Fox was the international leader of the Catholic Church's
single united global-culturalism movement. And at the beginning of the
interview Fox told me that Thomas Merton had asked him to reach out to
the youth of the 1960s counter cultural revolution with the intent to
help them find the truth and live holy lives. And then Fox asked me, a
counter cultural revolutionary, what I thought about this connection
with Merton. I then responded by telling him about my strongly
influenced by Thomas Merton counter-cultural and Catholic world-view
movement behind the word wakan. And near the end of the interview Fox
ask me to keep in touch with him, so as to keep him informed about the
progress of my counter-cultural and Catholic world-view movement behind
the word wakan.
And during a Mr. & Mrs. I. C. Rainbow family reunion. A reunion that
took place not long after my meeting with Father Matthew Fox my uncle
Don Rainbow addressed the seventeen families gathered at that Rainbow
family reunion and said: " A Rainbow is a sign of God's salvation plan
and I believe that we may be used to glorify God more than any other
family in the world." He made this very grandiose statement after I
spoke to him about both my meeting with Matthew Fox and my vision of our
family coming together in kinship tribalism in order to promote the
tribal way and to also promote my expression of the counter-culture's
world-view behind the word wakan movement.
And then years later I met and became friends with Chris McCloud, an
internationally renown song writer who in the 1960s socialized with Paul
McCarthy and other world-wide known counter cultural leaders. When
McCloud was socializing with McCarthy he, like myself, was of the
strongly influenced by Thomas Merton Catholic expression of the counter
culture's single united global-culturalism movement, and he is still of
the Catholic expression to this present day.
And in the 1960s, I met and became friends with Richard Carter. At the
time, Carter was a San Francisco Bay area leader of the counter cultural
revolution and he occasionally met with Stephen Gaskin. When Gaskin and
his commune moved to Summertown Tennessee, Carter his wife (Louis) and
myself moved to Wahkon, Minnesota. The move was temporary for the
Carters but permanent for myself. Now-a-days, Richard Carter is an
internationally renown environmentalist and one of the Governor of
Arizona's top environmental advisers.
My 1983 Tekakwitha Conference and Rainbow family reunion experiences,
along with my friendship experiences with both Richard Carter and Chris
McCloud , inspired me to increase my dedication to my mission of
promoting my expression of the counter-culture's world-view behind the
word wakan movement, and to do so, by showing respect for the
multi-tribal Native American word wakan. And in order to show due
respect for the sacred Native American word wakan, I (as previously
mentioned) established a movement to change the derogatory name of the
Rum River, a name that I believe desecrates the sacred Sioux name Wakan.
I laid the foundation for establishing my Rum River name-change movement
by contacting Minnesota's DNR official in charge of both opening up
name-change processes, as well as guiding citizens trying to change
derogatory geographic names.
After he officially opened up the Rum River geographic name-change
process and started guiding me, I started building a support base for my
geographic name-change movement.
I established a nonprofit corporation. And I also created a web site to
help me build a support base. My web site address is: www.towahkon.org.
And the headquarters of my geographic name-change organization are
located in Wahkon, Minnesota.
The only activist opposition to my name-change proposal came from
Wahkon, Minnesota's former City Council.
My efforts to change the river's name has received support from the
following organizations and individuals. In addition, a Mdewakanton
Sioux band and Sioux college are also on the list of supporters.
* Upper Sioux, a band of Mdewakanton Sioux. This band is one of four
Minnesota Mdewakanton
Sioux bands. The ancestors of these bands named the badly named Rum
River Mdoteminiwakan.
* Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, a non-federally recognized 250-
member Mdewakanton Dakota
(or Sioux) tribe.
* Cankdeska Cikana Community College, a Sioux college established to
bring higher education
opportunities to the people of the Spirit Lake Tribe.
* Tekakwitha Conference, an international Catholic Native American
Catholic organization. 172 tribes
were represented at the 2003 annual Tekakwitha Conference. This
conference's prayer circles, called
Kateri Prayer Circles, have been formed on nearly all U.S. reservations
and in many Indian urban
centers.
* United Nations' Secretariat of the Permanent Forum On Indigenous
Issues.
* National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans.
* Joe Day, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council.
* Russell Means, an internationally renown American Indian activist.
* Pat Albers, Chair of the University of Minnesota's American Indian
Studies Department.
* Don Wedll, an American Indian rights activist who is well known
throughout the state of Minnesota.
* Paul Gorski, an internationally renown multiculturalist who was voted
onto the 5-member Executive
Committee of the National Association for Multicultural Education.
* Barbara Gerner De Garcia, the Secretary of the Executive Committee of
the board for the National
Association for Multicultural Education.
* Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
* University Creation Spirituality, this University's Creation
Spirituality movement seeks to
integrate the wisdom of western spirituality and global indigenous
cultures with the emerging
scientific understanding of the universe.
* Matthew Fox, an internationally renown Christian theologian. Fox is
also the founder and
president of University Creation Spirituality.
* Pax Christi USA.
* Pax Christi Minnesota.
* National Trust Historic Preservation supports my efforts to revitalize
the Sioux's interest in
their heritage in the "Wakan River" area. The NTHP is a national
non-profit organization that
provides leadership, education and advocacy to save our nation's divers
historic places and
revitalize our communities.
* AymaraNet, a South American organization with the world's only
internet site with information
on the Aymaras in Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Ecuador.
* KOLA, an international human rights organization that helps indigenous
communities throughout
the world to rectify injustices inflicted upon them by non-indigenous
people living in their
homelands.
* Efforts to change the geographic name have also received support from
thirty pastors of Christian churches located within the Rum River area.
In my effort to change the river's name I have found that there is
almost unanimous support for the name change by Christian ministers.
In addition, a subcommittee of the Minnesota Historical Society's Indian
Affairs Committee just recently recommended that the MHS's Indian
Affairs Committee discuss the name-change issue at their next meeting.
And they might also decide to support the name-change at that meeting.
I believe that by drawing attention to my Rum River name change
initiative "white guilt" will increase, because of a heightened
awareness of the catastrophic consequences caused by white settlers
introducing and selling alcohol to Native Americans; and that this
increase of "white guilt" will, in a lot of ways, cause white
Euro-Americans to offer all Native Americans their long over due
restitution justice. Especially when it comes to making amends to help
Native Americans to free themselves from the plague of alcoholism.
And I believe that due to the wide-spread acceptance of our nation's
multicultural movement it will only be a short period of time before the
derogatory Rum River name is changed.
A lot of people are active participants in our nation's popular
multicultural movement, and through multicultural education and activism
people learn to appreciate others more and understand others more; and
that by doing so, they become better people. And because through
multiculturalism people acquired an increased respect for people of
other cultures, they therefore initiate and support movements to change
derogatory names. I believe that it is primarily due to our nation's
popular multicultural movement that many derogatory names have already
been changed, and that because of the wide spread acceptance of
multiculturalism our nation has already become a better place to live.
www.aaanativearts.com/article682.html