General > Research Needed
Lydia Hersloff AKA Lydia White Calf
TrishaRoseJacobs:
Okay, this is the most recent time I've recieved an email on Lydia White Calf having made false accusations against the Cruz and the Naropa Institute. The lawsuit was dismissed as having no merit.
I've gotten several emails from rather respectable and reasonable sounding people stating that:
Cruz never claimed to be a spiritual leader of the Ogala Lakota Nation. But he was in fact a Sundance helper to Vernal Cross for twenty years
Eagle Cruz is Yaqui born on the reservation of another tribe (don't know which.)
Cruz did not teach any class on Native Spirituality but rahter, Native American studies.
And that furthermore it was Lydia White Calf herself who demanded Curz teach Lakota Spirituality, that he refused. As well as refused her demand that he teach her songs and how to do ceremonies. And that is why (according to these emails) she brought a lawsuit against him.
Any opinions, further info? I don't want to have him on my website if he was in fact, not at fault.
Trisha
educatedindian:
Naropa is an exploiters institution, I have no doubt of that given the history of its founder. As for this case, it could have been dismissed simply because of the double standard the courts practice all the time for Native religions. Simply because they know so little of Native beliefs they err on the side of caution and take the word of white "experts" on NDNs.
No one ever claimed the course was called spirituality. The complaint was that ceremonies were taught within the class by a fraud. Naropa's own catalog said that ceremonies would be taught, so why would Cruz claim he refused to teach them?
Cross has passed on, but his relatives signed a resolution against exploiters, one that explictly singles out Don "Eagle" Cruz by name.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/4450/lakotatrib.html
"Resolution Regarding Don (Eagle) Cruz - False Prophet
Resolution in Support of The Resolution Regarding Don (Eagle) Cruz - False Prophet Endorsed by the International War Crimes Tribunal May 5-9, 1998
In previous years, the Grey Eagles of the Lakota Nation, (the Lakota Tribal Elders), had developed and adopted a Ten Point document that included a strong stand against non-Lakotas who practiced and performed the Sacred Ceremonies of the Lakotas, which is strictly prohibited by Traditional Lakota Law.
The relatives of deceased medicine man, Vernal Cross, Sr. presented a resolution calling for a halt to spiritual exploitation of the Lakota religion and questionable activities of one Don (Eagle) Cruz employed the Naropa Institute of Boulder, Colorado. Members of the Tribunal developed a Resolution that reaffirmed the prohibition of non-Lakotas from leading out in the Sacred Ceremonies."
And while the White Calfs' supporters includes showboats like Russell Means, they also included some other big name respected Lakota leaders.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9672/
And if you go midway down this link:
http://freecatalonia.ghostchild.com/index.php/topic,163.0.html
"In mid 1998, the White Calfs rallied cease and desist orders from the Grey Eagle Society of Lakota elders for Naropa to halt the practice of Lakota ceremonialism by Eagle Cruz. Naropa scoffed, quickly issuing a defensive document entitled "The Naropa Institute's View: Native American Studies," which outlined their mission and policy for the program. A paragraph reads:
In developing this program, Naropa faculty have sought out and followed the guidance of highly respected and accepted elders from several Nations including, but not limited to: Arvol Looking Horse and Irma Bear Stops Rooks, Lakota; Thomas Banyacya, Hopi; Jose Lucero, Santa Clara Pueblo; Oren Lyons, Onandaga; and Joe Rose, Anisinabe. Many of these elders have taught Intensives at Naropa, have reviewed syllabi for the courses in question, and have given specific direction about what should and what should not be taught.
"We called up Arvol Looking Horse [Keeper of the Lakota sacred white buffalo calf pipe] and Oren Lyons," say the White Calfs, "and they were both amazed that Naropa would make these outrageous claims. Arvol said he would come right down and help us fight this."
Cruz did work with some Nuage musicians.
http://www.ethereanmusic.com/modules/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=79
But other than that, he seems to have disappeared, which fits with the claim of the White Calfs that they found he had a history of multiple IDs and social security numbers.
Naropa's faculty have little understanding of who is NDN or not. Go to the bottom of this article and you'll see a list of "Natives" and Cruz is the only one who might have been NDN. The first four are all whites.
http://www.naropa.edu/envma/ketchin/sacredshows.html
Naropa has a history of being good at blowing smoke, and I wonder if the people who contactedyou might have fallen for it.
educatedindian:
Found one more. Lots of frauds have been making false claims about Cross.
http://www.nanews.org/archive/1997/nanews05.039
RE: Vernal Cross Claims Denied" ---------
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 23:11:11 -0500
From: tusweca <tusweca@TWLakes.Net>
Subj: Vernal Cross
UUCP email
Vernal Cross, Oglala Sioux Medicine Man
On September 4th, 1997 Vernal Cross, Oglala Sioux medicine man passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in South Dakota. Since that time his widow and children have learned that a number of people have come forth claiming to have inherited some part of his hochoka, or spiritual way. His widow, Darlene Cross, has asked me to post the following information. "No part of Vernal's hochoka was
passed on. All of his hochoka remains with the family and when he passed away he took his power with him. Anyone who claims otherwise is
subject to arrest and imprisonment under federal law". The following people have made claims of spiritual gifts and/or authority from Vernal
which Darlene states are false.
- Steve McCullough: Bicknell Indiana
Claims Vernal authorized Steve to perform ceremonies, which he never did.
- Larry Thompson: South Dakota
Has claimed Vernal made him a "healer" and authorized him to organize sundances among certain Canadian tribes, which he did not.
- Lenas Red Feather: Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Claims to have been taught how and authorized to run sundances by Vernal, which Vernal never did.
- AKA Vernal Cross Junior: New Hampshire
This person is claiming to be the son of Vernal Cross and Vernal Senior's Junior. Vernal Cross junior resides in Kyle South Dakota and does not
reside in New Hampshire.
- Don (Eagle) Cruz: Boulder Colorado
Did not receive authority to lead sundances or any ceremony from Vernal Cross
- Gerald Bear: Reno Nevada
Did not receive authority to lead sundances or any ceremony from Vernal Cross
TrishaRoseJacobs:
Cool beans, thanks Al.
Trisha
milehighsalute:
just read this and heard it from former members of their little clique this chick, some radio host and eliase yenegata graywolf had some kind of plot awhile back to try to lure the pope back here and kill him....i saw an old FB page from 2010 that they talked about it openly......................after that they hads some falling out and al 3 of them started pointing fingers at eachother and calling eachother phonies and fakes
so from what i read her last name is hersloff, she was married to a lakota so she thinks that gave her the right to go around claiming to be lakota and practice medicine
her ex-husband and dennis banks issued statement about her
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