Naming Controversy
The current English name is a mistranslation of the one given to it by the Mdewakanton Dakota (see Dakota) tribe. Though Wakpa waḳaŋ (Spirit(ual)/Mystic River) in the Dakota language, by the late 18th-century Europeans interpreted the Mdewakanton Dakota name for the river not as "Spirit" denoting a mystical force, but instead as "spirit" denoting alcohol and ever since it has been known as the Rum River.
There is an international movement to return the river to its previous "name" on the basis that the current one is a "corruption" of the name's original intent. It is seen as an affront to native sensibilities; (the modern-day Dakota word for "Great Spirit" is, for instance, Waḳaŋ Taŋka). The movement has been endorsed by many tribal and native organizations, human rights organizations, multicultural organizations, the United Nations' Secretariat of the Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues, the Minnesota Historical Society's Indian Advisory Committee, a Minnesota State Legislator and religious leaders, including Archbishop Harry Flynn and Bishop John Kinney. However, some people still believe it is doubtful that such a change will be effected because the modern usage is so entrenched with communities along the river.
Read more about this topic: Rum River
Famous quotes containing the words naming and/or controversy:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)