Snake River gets its name from the Ojibwe word Kanabec, or snake, naming it after their enemies, the Dakota, who lived upriver, and who they later displaced.

And according to the Minnesota Historical Society’s website: "Devil Track River, wrote Gilfillan, is Manido bimadagakowini zibi, meaning the spirits (or God) walking-place-on-the-ice river. The Ojibwe applied this name primarily to Devil Track Lake, and thence, according to their custom, to the out-flowing river. The name implies mystery or something supernatural about the lake and its winter covering of ice, but without the supremely evil idea that is given in the white men's translation."

In respect to my effort to change the Rum River name, I have received two letters from U.S. Senator Mark Dayton. Senator Dayton has been giving and offering me assistance.

On September 27, I met with Christopher Leifeld, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference. The MCC is the public policy voice of Minnesotas Catholic bishops. The MCC sometimes helps legislators author bills, plus it also gives its support for some bills. I recently had received a letter from Archbishop Harry Flynn wherein he thanked me for my update letter on my Catholic social activist ministry to rename the Rum River and related visionary ministry. Therefore , during our meeting, we talked about my related visionary ministry for about a half hour. At the time, I mentioned that a secretary Bishop of the Vaticans Pontifical Council on Peace and Justice had sent me a letter wherein he let me know that the council had taken note of my letter about my campaign to rename the Rum River and related material. The related material was about my related visionary ministry.

And after South Dakotas 2003 Hall of Fame winner (Rev. Stanislaus Maudlin) read my letter published in the Mille Lacs Messenger conserning my Catholic social activist ministry to rename the Rum River and related visionary ministry, he sent me an e-mail asking that I add his name to my list of people who support the effort to change the Rum Rivers name. Rev. Maudlin is the abbot of Blue Cloud Abbey and founder and executive director of Blue Cloud Abbeys American Indian Research Center. And Rev. Maudlin is also a prominent leader of the Tekakwitha Conference, an international Catholic American Indian organization representing hundreds of tribes. And he is in constant correspondence with the Vatican Commission on Traditional Religions. During the 1983 Tekakwitha Conference, Rev. Maudlin addressed a large group of conference participants and said "there is a whole world view behind the word wakan".

The Dakota are used to portray all American Indian 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 American Indians as Dakota; and that when people watch the traditional Hollywood movies about American Indians they often hear the Dakota using the word wakan (sacred), or the combined words Wakan-Tonka (Spirit-Great). Hence, a lot of people around the world believe that the word wakan and the name Wakan-Tonka are used by all American Indians. Stephen Gaskin, an internationally renowned youth of the 1960s counter-cultural leader and Green Party candidate for President in the year 2000 once wrote: "The word wakan has a strong and universal concept and people all around the world know something about it."

And after two nationally renowned American Indian activists, Christine Rose and Mike Graham, read my Mille Lacs Messenger letter concerning my Catholic social activist ministry to rename the Rum River and related visionary ministry, they sent me e-mails wherein they both thanked me for sending them the press release as well as asked me to keep up the good work. This letter can be found at: http://www.towahkon.org/artvisionary.html.

And the National Catholic Reported published a peace of mine about my effort to rename the Rum River. NCR is a news weekly that reports news about global peace and justice issues. It has over 120,000 loyal readers in 96 countries. The NCR describes me as a Catholic social activist. And I am also being described as a Catholic visionary prophet with a worldview around the word wakan. And in some circles that promote a single global culture, a culture made up of the best of the past of all the different peoples’ cultures and traditions, a culture wherein humanity will hopefully be united, it represents the culture(s) of the aboriginal people of the Americas.

Another article about this issue can be found at: www.towahkon.org/Visionary.html