Changing The Racist Name of The Knights of Columbus

By Thomas Dahlheimer

I am spearhead an local, national and international movement to
revert the faulty-translation and profane name of Minnesota's "Rum
River" back to its sacred Dakota Indian name Wakan, which translated
means (Great) Spirit. And after sending MN Representative Mike Jaros
my draft bill to change the name of the "Rum River" as well as 13
other MN geographic site names that are offensive to American
Indians, Rep. Jaros slightly modified it and then with the
permission of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council he introduced it
to the MN legislature.

Anoka, Minnesota is located at the confluence of the Wakan/"Rum" and
the Mississippi rivers. During the summer of 2007 Jim Anderson,the
Cultural Chair for the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community and a
leading Minnesota Dakota activist, and I gained permission from
Anoka's Mayor, president of the Anoka area chamber of Commerce and
the executive director of the Anoka County Historical Society to set
up a tepee at the Anoka County Historical Center (located in the
City of Anoka) during an Anoka County sesquicentennial event for
the purpose of teaching the Dakota people's history in Anoka County.

During the event Jim Anderson brought awareness to the effort to
change the profane Rum River name as well as to our plan to
establish an Anoka Dakota Unity Alliance. We later met with the
Mayor of Anoka and discussed our plan to establish an Anoka Dakota
Unity Alliance. He is now helping as to establish an Anoka Dakota
Unity Alliance. In the near future we will be meeting with him
again. During our first meeting we told him that Columbus was a
genocidal maniac Indian killer. And I told him that during a meeting
with the pastor of the Catholic Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka I
told the pastor that Columbus was a "genocidal maniac who was
following the edicts of a genocidal maniac pope" and that he then
said "YES". Before our meeting the pastor had read articles of mine
about Columbus and I had also sent him the Transforming Columbus Day
website address.

However, when I later asked the pastor if he would help me "put an
end to the Knights of Columbus organization in Anoka he said "NO",
and then gave some lame excuse as to why not.

If their bishops are not asking them to take a counter cultural
position on an issue, it seems like most priests will always go
along with the majority position in their church and nation. Like
when German Catholic's went along with Hitler's madness and also
when priests went along with their bishops who bought and owned
American Indian slaves as well as black African slaves. In my
opinion, they do not listen to the Great Spirit calling them
to "come out and be separate, and protest". And I also believe that
most present-day Catholic priests are conformist, not Christians,
they go blindly in the way of the many, they're, as a former MN
Governor once said, "weak mined people who need strength in
numbers", and so are most of their fellow parishioners. When they
were young and vulnerable they were lead into the "conformist box"
and then had their consciouses sheard.

And I recently spoke on the phone with a prominent member of Anoka`s
Knights of Columbus. He called me to see if I, a new member of the
Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka, would like to join the Church of
Saint Stephen's Knights of Columbus. We had a fifteen minute
conversation wherein I told him about my international movement to
change the profane name of the "Rum River" back to its sacred Dakota
name. And I also told him about my draft bill that Rep. Jaros
introduced to the Minnesota legislature.

I also told him about the UN's World Conference Against Racism
document that identifies two Papal Bulls as the source of white
racism associated slavery, genocide, ethnic cleansing, grand theft
of the indigenous peoples of the Americas homelands, denial of these
indigenous peoples' fundamental human rights, including the right to
have absolute root ownership of land, full independent nation
sovereignty rights and religious freedom. I also told him about
Columbus and his knights' evil exploitation of the native people
whom they came in contact with.

In addition, I told him about the bicentennial national debate
wherein some American Indian leaders were trying to influence the
leaders of the Knights of Columbus to change their organization's
racist name; and that I have received support for my effort to
change the profane "Rum River" name from national and international
renowned American Indian activists, and that I have been
corresponding with national and international renowned multicultural
educators and social activists who have given their support for the
effort to change the profane Rum River name.

I also told him that I believe that the Knights of Columbus name is
a white racist name; and that I was trying to influence the pastor
of the Church of Saint Stephen as well as other members of the
Knights of Columbus in Anoka to leave the Knights of Columbus and
start up a similar organization, and then write a letter to the
leaders of the Knights of Columbus, a letter wherein they would
inform them as to why they left the KC's, and that after they change
the racist name of their organization they will rejoin the
organization.

I also told him that I would like to address Anoka's Knights of
Columbus and personally present information to the Knights of
Columbus about Columbus and his knights as well as about my plan to
put an end to the Church of Saint Stephen's Knights of Columbus; and
then, later, after the leaders of the Knights of Columbus change
their organization's white racist name, reestablish a chapter in
Anoka. I also told him that I had met and spoke with the pastor of
the Church of Saint Stephen and that he agreed with me when I said
that: "Columbus was a genocidal maniac following the edicts of a
genocidal maniac pope".

The prominent member of Anoka's Knights of Columbus then told me
that he would inform the other members of Anoka's Knights of
Columbus, especially including the pastor of the Church of Saint
Stephen, about our conversation. I then told him that there is
a "problem" and what the problem is. I told him that it is very
difficult for a pastor to tell his congregation that they might,
because of a unique situation, "have to do something different". He
agreed with me.

I also told him that Jim Anderson and I had met with the mayor of
Anoka and that he understands that the Dakota people are coming back
to Anoka; and doing so, because it is a part of their homeland. And
I told him that the mayor is helping us to establish an Anoka Dakota
Unity Alliance, so that the residences of Anoka and the Dakota
people can participate in Anoka pow wows, intercultural education
classes and blend spiritually services, etc.. I also told him that I
thought that Jim Anderson, the Historian and Cultural Chair of the
Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community and leading Minnesota Dakota
Indian activist, would also like to address Anoka's Knights of
Columbus.

Rum River name change website
http://www.towahkon.org

Name changing MN bill
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?
bill=H2503.0.html&session=ls85

Minnesota Indian Affairs Council draft resolution
http://www.towahkon.org/MIACdraftresolution.html

Flier that Jim Anderson pasted out during an Anoka County
sesquicentennial event
http://www.towahkon.org/tepee.html

Article - Genocidal Maniac Christopher Columbus
http://www.towahkon.org/ColGenocide.html

Article - Combating White Racism Against Indigenous Peoples
http://www.towahkon.org/SEED.html