By Phillip C. Parrish, Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
As a retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander with 21 years of service in intelligence and counter-terrorism, a farmer, educator, and whistleblower on daycare fraud, I’ve dedicated my life to uncovering truth and fighting corruption wherever it hides. Today, as I campaign to become Minnesota’s next governor, I’m compelled to speak out against the blatant distortions peddled at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting right here in Minneapolis. Under the guise of a “land acknowledgment,” speaker Lindy Sowmick—a Minnesota DFL treasurer and self-described Indigenous queer woman—delivered a narrative riddled with inaccuracies, claiming the Dakota people were the “original stewards” who cared for Minneapolis’ lands, lakes, and the Mississippi River “for thousands of years,” that the land “was not claimed or traded,” and that the U.S. suppresses this history in education. This isn’t just performative virtue-signaling; it’s a dangerous half-truth that divides Minnesotans by race and creed while ignoring the real culprit behind our state’s painful history: corruption.
Let’s set the record straight on Minnesota’s heritage, drawing from archaeological and historical facts that honor all peoples involved—not just a sanitized version for political points. The Dakota weren’t the “original” inhabitants of what is now Minneapolis. Evidence from mounds across the state shows pre-Dakota cultures like the Woodland, Laurel, Blackduck, and Oneota peoples lived here centuries earlier, building complex societies and leaving behind artifacts that predate Dakota migration around 1250 CE. These earlier groups engaged in their own stewardship, but also in resource use and territorial disputes—human realities that Sowmick’s romanticized portrayal erases. And contrary to her claim, the land was very much “claimed and traded.” Starting with the 1805 treaty negotiated by Zebulon Pike, the U.S. secured land for Fort Snelling from the Dakota. This was followed by the 1837 treaty ceding lands east of the Mississippi, and the infamous 1851 Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, where Dakota leaders relinquished 24 million acres for annuities and a narrow reservation along the Minnesota River.
But here’s where the true dishonor lies—not in the treaties themselves, but in the corruption that poisoned them. Corrupt traders and U.S. officials siphoned off much of the promised payments, leaving the Dakota starving amid crop failures and delayed annuities. By 1862, this betrayal sparked the Dakota War, where desperate warriors attacked settlers, leading to hundreds of deaths on both sides. The U.S. response was swift and brutal: sham military trials sentenced 303 Dakota to death, with President Lincoln commuting most but approving the execution of 38 in Mankato—the largest mass hanging in American history. Surviving Dakota were exiled, with bounties placed on those who remained. This wasn’t a clash of cultures; it was the work of intellectually and morally broken grifters—white-collar criminals in government and trade—who used lies, scams, and fear to exploit and divide. They promised protection and fairness but delivered famine and exile, all for personal gain.
This pattern of corruption—transcending race, color, or creed—repeats itself today under Governor Tim Walz and the Minnesota DFL Party, cheating Minnesotans of all backgrounds out of our shared heritage and future. Take the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline replacement, completed in 2021 despite fierce Indigenous opposition. Walz campaigned in 2018 vowing to respect tribal sovereignty and oppose such projects, but once in office, he allowed construction to proceed amid ongoing legal appeals. This flip-flop violated 1855 treaties with Ojibwe tribes, threatened sacred wild rice harvests, water quality, and cultural sites in northern Minnesota, and led to over 1,000 arrests of water protectors—many Indigenous—facing aggressive policing funded by Enbridge itself. Critics like Winona LaDuke have accused Walz of sacrificing Indigenous people and the environment to a Canadian corporation, echoing the historical treaty scams where economic interests trumped honor. It’s no wonder tribal leaders begged Walz to pause the project during appeals, only to be ignored.
The corruption doesn’t stop there. Under Walz’s watch, Minnesota has become a hotbed for fraud scandals that siphon taxpayer dollars meant for the vulnerable. The Feeding Our Future scheme alone defrauded $250 million from a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, with funds intended for hungry kids diverted to luxury cars, real estate, and bribes. Walz’s administration not only praised the organization early on but was slow to act despite red flags, allowing the fraud to balloon. A congressional subpoena has even targeted his Department of Education for oversight failures, with 70 individuals charged and multiple convictions. This isn’t isolated; similar fraud has hit autism services and other programs, costing hundreds of millions more. And the DFL Party itself faces scrutiny: The FBI is investigating endorsement processes in Minneapolis for potential delegate fraud, leading to the revocation of endorsements like that of state Sen. Omar Fateh in the mayoral race. Political connections shielded Feeding Our Future perpetrators, serving as a stark warning to the DFL about cronyism and lax oversight.
These aren’t partisan jabs; they’re facts exposing a culture of corruption where elites use half-truths to divide us—pitting Indigenous against settlers, rich against poor, left against right—while lining their pockets. Corruption knows no race, color, or creed; it comes from all walks of life, from 19th-century traders to modern bureaucrats. As Minnesotans—of Dakota, Ojibwe, Scandinavian, German, Somali, Hmong, and every heritage—we must discern these “split-tongue” grifters and hold them accountable. Stop letting them divide us with fear and hate. In 2026, let’s unite to reclaim our state from the corrupt, building a Minnesota where integrity, not scams, defines our legacy.
For more on my campaign to end fraud and restore honesty, visit parrish4mn.com. Together, we can make Minnesota work for all of us.
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