NAFPS Forum
General => Welcome & News => Topic started by: educatedindian on May 24, 2005, 02:27:18 am
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In less than 2 days I'm off to Europe, speaking at about 20 different places in 4 different countries, made possible by the hard work of Barnaby, Annika, Trish, Nina, Ingeborg, Ale, Leo, and others. I'll do my best to report on the tour as often as I can, plus keep up with all other obligations.
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Good luck and go have a safe flight.
I hope that I will get to attend at least one of the talks and meet you somewhere along the line.
^. .^
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Good luck and go have a safe flight.
I hope that I will get to attend at least one of the talks and meet you somewhere along the line.
^. .^
Here's the schedule:
http://www.world-foundation.nu/English-Tour.htm
I wish I could take credit for organising all the English dates, but half of them have been organised by Wendy Upton Shaw and Elija van den Berg. Here's Elija:
http://www.americanindianprisoners.com/Pages/Renegade%20artists.htm
Wendy's organised a date and accomodation for Al at very short notice, despite being far, far busier than I am.
Thanks also to David Meanwell of
http://www.fourdirections.org.uk/
who has publicised Al's tour on his site and in his email newsletters.
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Have a good trip Al !
We'll look forward to the updates as we get them...
Linda
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I would also like to give credit to my friend Ninnie Hamrén who has made a fantastic job with bookings - we divided Sweden in half and she fixed Al up in Stockholm and along the east coast.
Have a nice flight, Al! And enjoy UK.
See you soon
Annika
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Maybe some of those photos can be used on this site.
Linda.
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Al's landed safely, if 3 hours late, and is now on my dad's sofabed catching up on sleep.
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Thanks for the update, Barnaby.
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Hello to everyone from Totnes. Been in England for foru days now, finally over jet lag. I've given two speeches which both went very well. Almost all positive response, a lot of very nice and decent people listening and thanking me. One sweet elderly man even helped us clean up afterwards.
I start off my speeches by playing Rollin Fox's "Revenge". You should see the look of shock when they hear Native hip hop for the first time. I was a little surprsied by how reserved English audiences are when it comes to asking questions, but about half of them want to talk one on one afterwards. So far the only bad response has been one person glowering at me during my speech and another whose part of a local waldorf school getting into a long debate with us. The speeches are going so well that we should almost break even before we leave England, which means that much more monye for the Albuquerque Indian Center.
Thanks to Barnaby for his patience and selflessnessfor helping out with dozens of things little and big. Looking forward to meeting many of you I've only talked with online.
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Thanks for the update. As the Brits like to say, I'll be "on tenterhooks" until I hear your report from Glastonbury - England's own Sedona. Will Barnaby be going along? Watch for RLS to show up over there. He's bound to be very curious. You're sure to at least meet some of his admirers.
BTW are you guys tape recording these events?
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We came back very late from Glastonbury last night. Barnaby called it the most Nuage place in the country, but we had the best response yet from the audiences. "About time!" "'I'm so glad to finally hear something like this!" "Thanks you so much!" and "What can we do to help?" were responses we heard over and over. At one point someone called out that they were sick not only of frauds posing as NDNs but as people from other traditions too, and the crowd almost roared its approval.
Almost all of the people were very receptive, generous and just a great audience eager to hear what we had to say, tired of how they and people they knew had been tricked or abused or lied to. Some wanted very much to know how to get involved in NDN causes, a lot said they would definitely come to this forum, and several wanted to email me for further information about particular people or groups they were wrried about.
It just almost could not have gone any better. There was one woman who said she knew two friends who'd "connected with Harley Reagan on a spiritual level" and thar she knew Roy Steevensz and agreed with his cure for AIDs. But most of the crowd agreed with us, and at one point they almost shouted her down. I think Steevens will be answering a lot of questions about the warning I gave to them about him. Most didn't know about his being banned from Hopiland or hurting AIDs patients or association with Ickes.
Thanks again people of Glastonbury, and hope to see many of you in here.
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Thanks Al, very glad to hear it went so well. Did you make a tape recording there?
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No, we didn't tape it. I'm told Al's next English date, the last one before Sweden, will be videoed; he will also be interviewed for Radio Caroline, which was one of the original European pirate stations in the sixties.
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Barnaby called it the most Nuage place in the country, but we had the best response yet from the audiences...Thanks again people of Glastonbury, and hope to see many of you in here.
I'd like to second that, and say how pleasantly surprised I was at the positive response. I still think it's the most nuage place in the country, but I'm glad to see there are plenty of people living there who realise that 'the heart chakra of the planet' needs to do something about its cholesterol.
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Just to let you know that Al arrived to Sweden last night. We´ll be off to the Museum of World Cultures soon and then he´ll be on a train up to Stockholm tonight for some really interesting lectures....
We´ll keep you updated:)
And thanks, Barnaby, for all your great work over in UK!! What a good start for the tour!
Annika
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I will be posting photos from the tour on our website.
http://www.world-foundation.nu/europeantour.htm
(Thanks, Barnaby, for contributing with the photos from UK!)
We had a very successful lecture here yesterday, the hall was packed with people. Things are going great so far...:)
Annika
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I just spoke last night to the great people at 4th World, a really good activist group over here. One of them, Anna Klint, interviewed me a few days ago and it will be in their next issue. I'll be posting their web address in our NAFPS REcommends thread. They are doing a lot of good work with repatriation issues with Swedish museums. Anyone with any interest please contact them.
Day before that I spoke at the Nahuatl Club, a group of Native culture enthusiasts in the small town of Dalarna who had hosted Rainbow Eagle/Roland Williston four years in a row, paying for seminars in how to build their own "peace shields". It was like Glastonbury again. They listened and agreed with me the most of any audience so far in Sweden, thanking me after and telling me they didn't realize but now that they do, they're glad to know the truth.
Also had some wonderful talks with local Sammi people, whose history is a lot like Natives, facing an assimilation program, language and land loss, and a sterilization program. A Sammi elder, Magda, told a wonderful funny story about a young Sammi woman who went to a sweatlodge run by Harley Reagan's people. Fearing the worst, Magda prayed as hard as she ever had...and the power went out and the people at the sweat were freezing cold and shivering!
We're also looking into having the Swedish authorities investigate if the Deer Tribe are using paid prostitutes like they do in the US. If so, they have very hard laws here against the sellers/pimps, meaning the Deer Tribe leaders.
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Just finished speaking at the "Sioux Indian Club" one of the worser Nuage groups in Sweden. Their "chief" was taught by Williston, Talbot, and Sun Bear. It was one of the funniest sights to waqtch him get steamed ocver what I was saying. And the crowd was laughing in agreement when I poked fun at "Rainbow Eagle". They were great, so many thanking me for finally giving them some truth and how they suspicious themselves that some things were wrong with Williston. Things almost could not have gone better. I suspect Williston will not be coming back here, too many people have wised up.
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That's wonderful news indeed! :) I'm very glad you're going to Germany too. South Africa would be a great place to open some eyes, and I can think of a few other choice locations that are hotbeds of shame-on activity.
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Great news, Al. Met any (Harley) Reaganites yet?
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Just had to jump in here and add to what Al said - the tour is a great success and Al is doing a fantastic job! It couldn´t be presented in a better way and most people do stop and listen.
Yes, Barnaby, We´ve encountered some Reaganists. ? I have noticed, unfortunately, that they are starting up courses now both in Stockholm and in my hometown Gothenburg..:((
Shit!!
I´ll try to post some more photos during the weekend when we´re back home again.
Annika
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Each town seems to be getting a better and better response. The people here were so great, even gave me gifts of books and Swedish crafts. And I think our fund raising for the Albuquerque Indian Center is going incredibly well.
S Africa might be a bit harder, no membehere to help us out on any tour. And I dont know nearly enough about African traditions to judge anything. Outside of Steevensz and Credo Mutwa, I don't know of any frauds there. Hopefully they're the only ones. Might be interesting to see how stereotyped images of Indians compares to that of Africans. Do the Africans become Noble Savages to white S African Nuagers in order to make them feel less guilty?
I did meet someone in Glastonbury whose friend had been taken in by Mutwa and they were glad to find out about his connection to Steevensz and try to warn their friend.
If anyone knows of any ways to try and figure out ways to travel and speak in other places, let us know. We're already thinking about a second Europe tour since so many have given us university contacts here.
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Some more photos
http://www.world-foundation.nu/europeantour2.htm
Annika
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OMG. The tourist attraction. Al's face!
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Keeper of the Sacred Stew? I want a T shirt like that!!! LOL!
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It is raining like crazy today so I finally got time to post all the photos I had in the camera.
http://www.world-foundation.nu/europeantour.htm
Page 2 and 3 are updated.
We are doing great and there is just one more lecture to go here in Sweden. On Monday we have a meeting with a filmproducer who is interested in helping us turn the book into a documentary film. He has made lots of documentaries for the Swedish TV and thinks a film like this could be disitributed all over the world. It is - as always - a matter of finding sponsors, but if someone can do it, he can! So keep your fingers crossed, pleaseee.
Annika
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Ah, you have the rain that caused flash floods in N. England yesterday.
It's great to see everything's going so well. Looking forward to more news.
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Sorry for going OT but have had the urge to comment for a long time now...
Al, I so admire your stamina! and dedication! and commitment!
I think what you are doing is amazing, not to mention so important...
Your schedule is suitable for a small army, yet you find time to post here. I think of your physical, mental and emotional investment and it exausts me!
And have been wondering how you spell: "T-I-R-E-D" ??? :o)
With much added thanks to all who have worked so hard on the planning and day to day efforts making your speaking tour the success that it is,
pattyz
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Spoke to the Wild Oak last night, a Big Mountain support group in Sweden. Had some interesting discussions, some Scottish and Irish traditionalists who see some parallels between what happened to Gaelic and indigenous cultures. Plus met a young lady who did a great paper on Big Mountain and is already, at the age of 18, thinking about working on Native issues like repatriation, maybe becoming an anthropologist. A lot of really good people.
PS. Thanks Patty. The people here have been incredibly nice nd the country´s beautiful but I started missing home a couple days after I left. I´ll be back in both Sweden and Britain plus any other countries we can arrange next year, I´ve gotten so many offers to speak at universities and elsewhere.
Thanks to everyone in Sweden, I will see many of you next year hopefully (including you Mr. Andersson, see next post). On to Netherlands next.
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An exchange of emails between me, Annika, and Nils Andersson, a leader of the Sioux Indian Club, almost the only one at the lecture not happy with my speech. The "chief" I referred in my original post was not him, but another named Svensson who got very red faced and angry.
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Mr. Andersson,
Annika fowarded your email to me. I will address your concerns one by one.
1) I repeatedly said in my lecture and afterwards that no one can be blamed for falling for con men such as Williston or cult leaders such as Sun Bear. After all, it´s not easy to find good sources living in
Europe, and most of the Natives (or imposters posing as Nativees such as Francis Talbot AKA Medicine Story) are people who make their living
deceiving or even abusing people.
I will take you at your word you intend no harm. However, intending no harm and doing no harm are two different things.
Now that you realize you have unintentionally harmed people by hosting frauds such as Williston, the right thing to do is admit your mistakes and refuse to make the same mistakes again, not wallow in self pity, get defensive, or resort to attacking my credibility behind my back.
It shows both cowardice and a lack of character to take your complaints to Annika instead of directly to me. You could have said these things on the forum, had her forward your email to me, or better yet said them to me face to face at the lecture.
From now on if you have something to say about me, have the courage to say it directly to me.
2) As far as your claim that you put a lot of money into my lecture, my understanding is that most of the money for speakers for your group comes from state education, what we in the US would call adult education courses. That is a matter of grave concern to me, since state funds are being used to subsidize lies and disrespect about Native people from characters like Williston. I will be writing to the agency responsible for these matters, urging them to develop guidelines to insure this never happens again.
As far as any time or money you or others devoted to my lecture being well attended, I sincerely appreciate it. And judging by the response, almost all the members of Sioux Indian Club appreciated it enormously.
Every person I spoke with of your club thanked me for "finally telling us the truth". Most said they had long had deep concerns about whether what they were doing was right, accurate, or respectful, but they just didnt know where to turn with their questions. Some said they were joining other organizations, others that they would work to turn the club into a far better place and end the disrespect and ceremony selling.
If you truly wish to show you are the good person you say you are, you should join them in your efforts and cease defending an exploiter like
Williston.
3) I did not see even one negative comment on the forum and I challenge you to show me one. All were very happy and enthusiastic about the
lectures.
I did not see one single lie either and I challenge you to show me one. The only one being negative so far is you.
4) As far as my post on the forum, I stand by every word.
It must be very painful for you to see Williston laughed at, with your own club members now finding his New Age name of Rainbow Eagle amusing for being such a stereotype. It probably is also painful for you to have to deal with many of your club members agree they were wrong to take
part in ceremonies and now pledging to change.
Again I challenge you to point to even one lie, or be shown to be a liar yourself.
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Part 2
5) My credibility remains intact. Yours seems very questionable, since you lied repeatedly in your email to Annika and were cowardly in twice
attacking me behind my back and not having the courage to say these things to me. If you truly had courage or convictions you would have said
these things right after the lecture, in public.
I am a history professor. If I lie I lose my job and no other historians would listen to me, and no publishing house would ever publish me.
However I not only have my teaching position, I expect to be promoted soon. I´ve had numerous articles published, and my first book should be
published by an academic press before the end of the year.
If I lied, no Native people would listen to me and no Native activsts would work with me.
But I clearly have a group of over one hundred activists willing to work with me on the forum, from many different tribes, and many Native activist groups such as Red Road Collective, AIM, ICARE, and others.
It is not my credibility that is in danger, it is yours, and it is Williston´s.
Again,I will take you at your word that you try to be a good person. I publicly challenge you to prove it.
Work to make the club a better place. Cease hosting frauds like Williston, cease publishing lies from cult leaders like Sun Bear.
You offered to have me come back and speak again. I would be glad to, on any topic about Native history, political issues, or genuine
spiritual beliefs.
I challenge you now to tell me you still would like me to speak at the club again. It would prove you to be a man of your word.
And I will be posting this on our forum. Unlike you I believe in being open and honest and I have nothing to hide and do not say things behind
people´s backs.
Dr. Al Carroll
Annika Banfield <> wrote:
Briefly this is what it says
Al´s posting on the NAFPS board makes me really disappointed. I have a sincere wish to do what is right and I do not want to hurt anyone.
Together with some others I put down a lot of money and time to make this lecture come true. As a response you get a very negative reply on the
forum and some comments are party downright lies:
"Just finished speaking at the "Sioux Indian Club" one of the worser Nuage groups in Sweden. Their "chief" was taught by Williston, Talbot, and
Sun Bear. It was one of the funniest sights to waqtch him get steamed ocver what I was saying. And the crowd was laughing in agreement when I poked fun at "Rainbow Eagle". They were great, so many thanking me for finally giving them some truth and how they suspicious themselves that some things were wrong with Williston. Things almost could not have gone better. I suspect
Williston will not be coming back here, too many people have wised up."
If Al stretches the truth as much in his lectures as he did in this posting his credibility in my eyes has disappeared.
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Well, Al has safely landed in Amsterdam and I can sum up three wonderful but hectic weeks here in Sweden as a great success! Just to see the big amount of people coming to listen wherever Al lectured was really encouraging. People *do* want to know the truth! And almost everyone has been very positive.
And - on top of that - we´ve raised almost 2000 USD for Albuquerque Indian Center!
Last Monday I made an interview with Al which was filmed by a vellknown documentary filmer over here. We also filmed outdoors and so this small documentary will be edited and sold on DVD to everyone who is interested in hearing the message! It will eventually be used for trying to get sponsors for the *big* documentary we also hope to be able to do. Lucky enough the filmguy wanted the film to be "controversial" - well, that sure won´t be a problem!!
Some more photos from midsummer celebration and from the filming.
http://www.world-foundation.nu/europeantour4.htm
Annika
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One of the leaders of Sioux Indian Club is panicking because so many of his members agreed with my lecture. An email exchange where he got downright racist.
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This letter is an appeal and a reflection so please don´t throw it away before you´ve read it. During your lecture in Eskilstuna on the 12th June about “10 ways to recognize false medicinemen??? and “To you who wants to know the truth??? by Al Carroll I got extremely disappointed. The first part about his upbringing he talked about his life and family and it is not much to say about that, I am sure he knows that better than anyone else. The second part was well expressed and clear, so it was impossible to misunderstand it even if you had wanted to.
But now to the part I got upset about, nothing of what he said is built on facts when it comes to Rainbow Eagle. As far as I know Rainbow Eagle has never charged for a ceremony or called himself a medicineman or shaman. Why I can proove the opposite is because I am studying for Rainbow Eagle and I know more about the so called truth.
To even use the word truth is very demanding and should be built on experiences and knowledge. Since noone of you has been in contact with this person by letters, mails, telephone calls, interviews, seminars or any other way which could derive to your knowledge about the truth of Rainbow Eagle, your whole program about false medicinemen falls apart.
When I later got home and thought about what I have heard and summed up the goal of this lecture, I surfed on the Internet to find “the truth???. After looking around I found your site with the forum about the European journey for Al Carroll. Under the comments after lectures I found a report from Eskilstuna. This was the most horryfying thing I have ever read!
When you look at the word “truth??? I don´t know how to define the word but what was written was the biggest lie I´ve ever read. Reading this comment I got a confirmation of your total ignorence about what the word “truth??? stands for.
I will not let any shadow fall on Al Carroll, he is surely trying to do as much good as he can in his “truth???. But You, Annika, should know better than to bring over people trying to convince us of YOUR “truth.???
I feel offended and disappointed about what you have done and I hope our road again will cross so we can discuss the misconceptions about the word “truth???.
You are doing a good work with trying to help other people, above all the children of poor nations, but don´t take this out on people who really want to believe in the truth.
So my suggestion, cross out the word truth in your publications, because you know nothing about that!
Kind regards
SunSpirit
Sunspirit_o@hotmail.com
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And my reply to him.
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Dear Mr. Svensson AKA "Sun Spirit"
To: Sunspirit_o@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Svensson,
First, I refuse to use your comical New Age name of "Sun Spirit", especially when it´s being used by an old white Swedish guy. Perhaps you recall my lecture about New Age stereotypes? Has it occurred to you that "Sun Spirit" is an incredibly pretentious name no Native would ever choose? In many Native beliefs, it´d be like calling yourself Spirit of Planet Earth, or even God Almighty. If you´re going to continue to "play Indian", expect others to laugh at you for being so pompous.
Mr. Svensson, as I told Mr. Andersson, I insist that if you have a probIem with my words or actions, you take it up directly with me instead of speaking behind my back. Your own actions show both a lack of courage and a lack of character.
You did not say anything at the lecture, either during the question and answer period, or while seated at the table with me. You could have emailed me or debated this at the forum. Instead you resort to attacking others because you lack the guts to deal with me directly.
I find your claim that I am somehow under the control of Annika Banfield or being manipulated or used by her insulting, offensive, and utterly racist and condescending.
I came here of my own choice. All the words I speak are my own and are not "my truth" but THE absolute truth of not just myself but Native traditionalists.
This includes Anishnaabe and Choctaw traditionalists offended by an imposter posing as a teacher of Anishnaabe tradtions, Roland Williston, or as you know him by his silly New Age name of "Rainbow Eagle."
Williston teaches an utterly FALSE version of the Seventh Fire Prophecies. See for yourself.
http://www.geocities.com/redroadcollective/Prophesies.html
"Beware if the Light-Skinned Race comes wearing the face of Niboowin (Death). You must be careful because the face of brotherhood and the face of death look very much alike...You shall know that the face they wear is the one of death if the rivers run with poison and fish become unfit to eat."
Mr. Svensson, you only look foolish and cowardly, like someone trying to hold onto their power and ego, when you blame Annika for my actions.
Annika is far from the only member of Sioux Indian Club to disagree with what you and Williston do.
1) A number of members told me they will be quitting.
2) Many want to join other better groups.
3) Many want the club to change, to quit hosting frauds like Williston, and to learn only from truthful sources.
4) This was happening long before I spoke at the club. One of your members even arranged another of my lectures in Sweden. Several offered to host me in their homes or arrange for me to come back and speak again. (This is in addition to Mr. Andersson inviting me back.)
Mr. Svensson, believe it or not, I truly pity you. I have seen many others like you who base so much of their lives and identities on lies told to them by imposters like Williston.
I hope you have the maturity to change, see how what you do is based on stereotypes and falsehoods, only serves the greed of a fake like Williston who has abused you and wasted years of your life.
And a final point- I will be back to speak again in Sweden, as will many other Native people. Count on it. Nearly all Natives feel as I do about charlatans like Williston. If you doubt it, see for yourself.
http://groups.msn.com/RememberTheCherokeeTsalagi/nafrauds.msnw
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:UUL8-T6X08EJ:www.geocities.com/fyewfakes/wall.html+fraud+%22rainbow+eagle&hl=sv
Finally, I wish to award you a Twinkie Certificate. I hope you see the humor and learn to laugh at your own foolishness.
http://www.bearvisions.com/Page11.html
And please, cross out the word truth from your emails, because you know nothing about it. Neither does Williston.
Dr. Al Carroll
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Just finished speaking in Amsterdam. The crowd had nice people, including a Houma woman married to a Dutch man. I'd like to speak to more of the ones who need to hear this though. Leo recorded the lecture on tape and will be writing an article. Also met his mother Maria, an amazing woman who's been an activist for over 30 years, and she's 92 years old. On to Belgium next.
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'To be presented at the meeting between Native issues activists and New Age operators in Europe, where the activists want the operators to do some big explaining. This is a statement I'm asking Leo to present for me:
Declaration to New Age Operators in Europe
To New Age leaders, healers, “shamans,??? business owners, etc. based in Europe who claim to be Native medicine people or elders or to work with them or imitate them,
My name is Dr. Al Carroll. I am a history professor of Mescalero Apache heritage. In 1999 I co-founded New Age Frauds Plastic Shamans (NAFPS). We are a multi-tribal multi-ethnic multi-faith activist group of over 100 people from all walks of life. Our members are Apache, Anishnaabe Cherokee, Lakota, Menominee, Munsee, Tohono Oodham, and many other tribes as well as white, Black, Latino, Maori, English, Swedish, Australian, Canadian, Christian, pagan, atheist, Muslim, many American Indian traditionalists, and many reformed and former New Agers.
We warn the public about imposters who pose as Native medicine people and seek to give people better sources to learn about American Indians as well as educate the public about the harm caused by spiritual exploitation, racism, commercialism, and sexual abuse which are widespread within the New Age movement and self proclaimed “shamanism.???
On this matter our point of view is quite typical of the sentiment of the overwhelming majority of Native people in the US, as has been expressed repeatedly in numerous declarations by traditional Native elders, tribal councils such as those of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Hopi, Navajo, and numerous Lakota reservations, and every prominent Native activist group out there from the American Indian Movement to ICARE to Iron Lodge to Red Road Collective to Native Americans Against Censorship.
You need to understand, as many of you in fact already know but pretend otherwise, that the overwhelming sentiment is against New Age misrepresentation and exploitation of Native spiritual traditions. There are NO legitimate Native medicine people teaching in Europe. Some may visit to seek support for Native causes, but none sell ceremonies, seminars, or workshops to teach them, or endorse white pretenders to do this for them.
I would like for all the New Age leaders and business owners present to answer these important questions and concerns. Your responses will be noted, as well as any lack of response or attempts to avoid answering or be misleading.
1) Will you make public disclaimers that none of what you do is Native or Native-derived in any way shape or form?
2) Will you cease contact or support of any and all imposters posing as Native medicine people, including every one of them listed as imposters by NAFPS and/or AIM?
3) Will you issue the public warning included describing the dangers of sweatlodges performed by anyone who is not a Native traditional elder?
4) Will you cease contact or support of any and all sexual predators and abusers within New Age leaders or self proclaimed “shamans????
5) Will you work with NAFPS or other Native activists and our allies to develop a code of conduct, and agree that any New Age operators who do not adhere to it shall be publicly denounced and disavowed?
6) If not, we the members of NAFPS and other Native activist and our allies demand to know why.
This series of requests will be publicly posted, and your responses or lack of shall be as well.
Sinceely,
Dr. Al Carroll
Social & Behavioral Sciences Dept.
St. Phillip’s College
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Spoke to KOLA on Saturday, at the University in Luneberg on Sunday, and AGIM in Munich last night. Also three interviews. Been a really good but very busy and tiring week.
KOLA have been around, like NANAI, for over thirty years supporting Native causes. A really great and animated discussion. Even among them, one of the members had been abused in the past by an exploiter. I´ll try to start a thread on him. And there are plans to coordinate the anti fraud activities more in Europe. I also spoke at Radio Brussels, who have an audience in the tens of thousands that heard the interview. And then after the KOLA meeting I spoke with a reporter from Brussels main paper, who says the article will be a feature in the main Sunday section.
In Luneberg I spoke to several dozen students, in spite of having been a very last minute organized lecture. I´ll try and hit more places in North Germany on the next tour.
The AGIM meeting was more of an informal discussion, but most of it was recorded by a public radio reporter. They got a chance to talk about their issues as well, mainly Big Mountain and support for the Lubicon Cree and resolutions to the UN and European parliament. But most of it was a friendly debate. AGIM are reluctant to confront the issue of frauds, since some of their members are supporters of the sweatlodge sellers, etc, and they rely on them for contributions. But none of the ones doing the main work are like that, it´s just they likely wont do much beyond pass on information. Still for me the most important thing was that the discussion of several hours was recorded for the largest public radio audience going all over South Germany.
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What a schedule: are you heading home soon or are there more last-minute dates?
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Five more places to speak, including two last minute lectures to German schoolkids, one class of 11 year olds, the others 15 year olds. The first group had already asked their teacher all wide eyed "A real Indian? COMING HERE?" Time to break out Indian rap tapes again. Actually I plan to play them practically my whole tape collection.
German kids going away humming "Custer Died For Your Sins". Makes me smile just thinking about it.
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;D ;D
If it is anything like in Sweden, just get prepared for questions like: "Do you often torture cowboys?" "How many persons can you kill with one arrow?" or the little girl holding on to the trouserleg of this Cree guy, sobbing her eyes out asking: "Are you the last Indian in the world??"
Children are just so cute...:)
Annika
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When we were lecturing in Germany one of the guys had long braids and was asked by a 10 or 12 year old boy if he'd ever killed anyone with one of his braids - and when I was coming back in June had a young (22 or so) Dutch girl ask if I lived in a tipi or house -
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Last night´s lecture went really well, a crowd of almost 60 people. There were so many questions that it lasted the longest of any lecture yet, over 2 1/2 hours. And this was the first time I got applauded for the point in my lecture where I described becoming a history professor. They laughed knowingly when I called Karl May books "truly truly terrible". Also got an offer to come back and lecture at Munich universities. It will be very busy next May.
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Spoke in Haar to a nice thoughtful group. And then just today I spoke to the two groups of German schoolkids. The 11 and 12 year olds were actually the better group, more than 50 questions from about 20 kids, everything from "Do you live in a tent" to what I thought of Bush. Funnest part was talking about music with them. The 15 year olds were a mixed bunch, some bored and just wanting out, some interested and asking a lot. Bad news is that their teachers had told them redskin was just another name for Indian. One girl also asked about tying people to the stake. "Europeans did that during the Inquisition right?" was my answer. And even crazier was being asked "Are there parks in the US where we can go look at Indians living like they used to?" I´m convinced we have to get them at a really young age.
But I will wind up with my photo in the yearbook for the younger kids. A really great bunch. One speech left tomorrow and Im home on Monday.
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There goes my bad conscience again....I´ve said to Trish every time she has been here and we´ve been out visiting schools, that we´ve gotto find a way to reach *the teachers*. Surely it would be possible to get loads of them together in a big hall and just give them the basic information?! All teachers here have to go to a certain amount of lectures each year to educate themselves.
There´s a yellow post-it note on my fridge now...won´t forget it once the holiday is over!
In one school I went to with my Cree friend Brian, the teacher had taught the kids that all Native men wear their hair in braids and all women wear it loose. ??? So the little girl went up to Brian who had his hair loose, and said: "You are not a girl!!!" and unzipped his fly !!!! :-X :D
OMG - we´re still laughing at that, 2 years later!!
Yep - need to educate teachers, that´s for sure!
Annika
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The letter I sent to the school:
Nina, please pass this message along to the teachers I spoke with. They may also pass along the parts of this message about their students to their classes if they wish.
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Thank you for a mostly good experience speaking at your school. I was very impressed by Class 6A, by their excellent understanding of English, their thoughtful questions, and their enthusiasm for learning. I doubt I will forget speaking to them. I was especially impressed by the girls seated near the window and the girl seated near the glass display.
I hope their teacher will pass along to Class 6A the flyers I gave to the older students. I think many of them would be interested, especially in the music links.
I will be almost certainly be back in Munich next May to speak at the university and would like a chance to speak to the same students in Class 6A again if possible. I would also enjoy the chance to speak at other schools.
The class of older students included both many who were interested and many who only were there because they were required. A few of them were rude and some even destroyed the handouts given to them, but I think their behavior was partly caused by the heat of the room and by their simply being anxious to leave school for the day. In the future it might be best to only have students attending who wish to hear the speaker, and not make it required for everyone.
Sadly it seems many of the teachers were given information about American Indians which is quite racist and promotes stereotypes. Many of them were passing along this racist information to their students, so the older students actually had more stereotyped ideas about Natives than the younger ones. This is part of the reason the younger students asked much better and more thoughtful questions.
I do not blame the teachers since it can be very difficult to find truthful information in Europe. I hope all of the teachers who lecture on American Indians to their students will please look at the same handouts I gave the students and base their lectures on that information and not the inaccurate material they are telling their students, such as:
1) Claiming redskin is just another word for Indian when in fact it is the worst and most racist insult you can use for someone Native. A German who says that to an Indian in the US will be seen as a racist or ignorant.
2) Telling their students about Indians tying people to the stake, when it was mostly Europeans who did this when they burned witches and heretics, or executed people by firing squads. Not only that, these teachers are reinforcing the racist idea of Natives as violent and savage people.
In addition to the handout, I urge the teachers to please take a look at this link and follow the advice given, especially What to Look For at the bottom:
http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/ailabib.htm
Finally, below is the overhead I used in my lecture.
Thanks once again for a memorable day, and my best to your students.
Dr. Al Carroll
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Gave my last speech for the tour last night. It went pretty well, actually sold more books than the crowd on Wednesday even though it was about half as many people. Spoke with an Aymara man from Bolivia now living in Germany for five years. This was a room at the big cultural center, most of the audience were elderly and also knew a little bit about Native issues like boarding schools. Only bad response was one couple who were Steiner fans and Marlo Morgan admirers.
Even better news is that AGIM is considering how to take on this issue. One thing we discussed is how to respond to all the standard answers followers have been given by their shameon leaders. So I´ll start a thread on FAQs.
Its been an incredibly successful tour, better than we dared dream. Almost always very positive responses, people eager and even overjoyed to "finally hear the truth" as they kept telling us. We raised a lot of money for the Alberquerque Indian Center. Im giving another 500 out of my speaking fees, in addition to the 500 I already have sent through World In Our Hands. Plus Annika raised about 1500 through selling crafts I think. The tour was so successful we were already in the black before I left Britain.
I want to thank again everyone who was such a help all over Europe: Barnaby (and his patient girlfriend), Elija, Annika, Josefin, Ninnie, Leo, Ingeborg, Cindy, and Nina, plus others Im sorry if Ive left you out.
All the organizations: World In Our Hands, Fourth World, Wild Oak, NANAI, Kola, and A`GIM.
Plus the media, radio in Britain, Belgium and Munich, newspapers in Sweden and Belgium. ?
Short of an emergency, I will be back next May to speak at the places Ive been invited to in Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and any other places we can manage where they need to hear this such as Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain. Thanks again everyone.
And its time to think about how to reach places like South Africa, Australia, and Japan. See Lesleyann´s threads, there are exploiters of Hawaiian traditions in the last two places, so probably of NDN ones too.
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You´ve done a fantastic job, Al!
I am sure all of us who have been involved would say the same. And the best thing of it all is to see that it actually *does* make a difference!
And I cannot w-a-i-t to read that book of yours...:)
Have a safe journey home and I hope you will get some peace and relaxation before you go back to work again.
Annika
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I want to thank again everyone who was such a help all over Europe: Barnaby (and his patient girlfriend)...
It was a pleasure, Al. I'm really proud to have been part of this. (I think gf was glad to get me out of her hair for a week or two!)
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Hey, Viking lady, thanks to you and everyone else for the updates, and to Al for his boundless energy on this tour.
I think you're right about the teaching the teachers. Maybe the book authors can brainstorm on some lesson plans.
~W~
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Hej there woodowl :)
You read my thoughts! I was just thinking about the possibility of making up some reading material for teachers. There is no need for expensive books as the schools here are constantly out of money and probably would not spend a cent on a book about Native cultures. But maybe something we could just copy up and it could actually be translated and used all over Europe.
It would, of course, be really good if there could be some Native names attached to it. So - yes - I´d like to give it a try for sure.
Next step?? :)
Annika
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Theres already been a lot written about teaching about Natives without using stereotypes.
Why wouldnt the I Is Not For Indian article be enough, for example? Or Blue Corn Comics articles on stereotypes?
Id suggest contacting either site and asking for permission to translate and send off to teachers in Europe.