Author Topic: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"  (Read 11960 times)

Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« on: April 05, 2015, 05:26:08 am »
So, I came across this guy on a Facebook friend's wall. He supposedly doesn't get paid (heard that before), is supposedly Cherokee and Cheyenne (new combo for a Pretendian) and has a Facebook friend list of almost exclusively woowoos and re-enactors. I couldn't find much on him beyond this article: http://www.waxahachietx.com/midlothian/news/ellis-county-resident-teaches-preserves-native-american-heritage/article_1df11bac-e0ea-5034-8a96-dd22735c4b99.html
and his Facebook page, which is dazzling, to say the least. https://www.facebook.com/jonspottedhorsefowler
Anyone ever heard of this guy? If so, is he legit Native? He has a ton of muddled cultural concepts going on with his regalia, lodge demonstrations and so forth. As in, he "teaches" Cherokee words on his FB page but sets up a tipi at demos and festivals and dresses totally unlike any traditional Cherokee I've ever seen.
PS- This is my first topic ever, so lemme have it if I'm blowed up. I might have missed something in the article, etc. I'm probably more curious about this guy than need be. If this is one of those small-fish in the big sea, by all means...
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.

Autumn

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2015, 12:29:10 pm »
I think this comment is very telling:

Quote
The Fowlers enjoy the excitement, Michelle said, adding that they do not want people to let Jon’s regalia intimidate them.

“When people see him, please come up and take a picture,” she said. “That’s what he does.”
(my bolding)

http://www.waxahachietx.com/midlothian/news/ellis-county-resident-teaches-preserves-native-american-heritage/article_1df11bac-e0ea-5034-8a96-dd22735c4b99.html

Interesting comment below the article:

Quote
mfowler124 posted at 9:46 pm on Tue, Mar 3, 2015.
mfowler124
Posts: 1

A great article, but, you left out that his brother, Don, has helped him make or has made some of Jon's Regalia and artifacts. Also, the picture of Jon (Spotted Horse) at the school was actually taken in Maypearl ISD not Waxahachie ISD.

Autumn

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2015, 12:36:10 pm »
I think you can get an idea of what he does from the attached photo from Facebook.  It looks like a lot of play-acting. 

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2015, 05:56:29 pm »
Can't resist adding this photo, from his Facebook page for his business F-Cycles https://www.facebook.com/pages/F-Cycles/384344940113?sk=timeline

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2015, 06:00:06 pm »
Jon Fowler also plays bass with the Circuit Rider Traveling Gospel Band, photo here to see what he looks like without the face paint

Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2015, 07:46:08 pm »
I saw a lot of this on his FB and such. I did say dazzling, didn't I? LOL
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2015, 07:58:43 pm »
I saw a lot of this on his FB and such. I did say dazzling, didn't I? LOL

Truly dazzling, I had to share them with the world.  :)

I wish he would stick to reenacting only, no pretense of supposedly being able to teach anybody anything about any NDN cultures.

His heritage claims are distant enough that we might not be able to prove or disprove, though I am giving it a go, found the name of his parents, some of his grandparents.

I notice his daily Facebook greetings of "Good Friday Morning Warriors" and the "serious" expression he affects when he is posing in his idea of regalia.

He is a member of this Facebook group Platte Band of the Cherokee First Nation run by Reed Chambers https://www.facebook.com/groups/235228473187180/permalink/560408584002499/ - the group says it is seeking fed recognition.


Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2015, 09:19:15 pm »
I totally missed that. And I see that their leader Reed Chambers is seeking the VP spot as a Tea Party member... Why do so many wannabes, almost without fail, end up being flaming racists? The TP in no way represents any ideals or creed of any Native people in North America in any way whatsoever... "Cherokee First nation" OMG they have no chill mode.
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2015, 09:53:13 pm »
He's white. I paid for a month of Ancestry use, found his mother's family trees that she has publicly posted. I'll go through in a more methodical fashion, but so far I only see white listed in census.

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2015, 11:00:35 pm »
Quote
Descended from a full-blooded Cherokee great-grandfather and a great-grandmother of pure Cheyenne background

http://www.waxahachietx.com/midlothian/news/ellis-county-resident-teaches-preserves-native-american-heritage/article_1df11bac-e0ea-5034-8a96-dd22735c4b99.html

If this heritage claim were true I'd expect confirmation to show up somewhere in records. Census is not always correct, but this type of heritage claim would probably be reflected eventually in census. Jon's family has public family trees on ancestry.com - no Cherokee or Cheyenne or other tribal nation listed. I've also looked at some of their ancestor death records and military records that list race, they all list "white". No "Indian" anywhere in records.

Jon's wording seems awkward anyway, claiming a gr grandfather "full blooded" and a gr grandmother "pure - yet with the word "background" added on. As if his ancestors are both "full" yet their heritage is a distant "background".

Even if he has the heritage he claims, what he is doing now is pretendian.


Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2015, 03:41:20 am »
Wow, Piff, you totally blew him open. Geez, you guys hit hard and fast. I am in awe, thank you...
The suggested groups that suddenly appeared after looking at the Platte group are all Right Wing/Tea Party/Christian Extremist/Anti-Immigration types of groups and pages. That indicates the preferred pages and groups frequented by members of the Platte group. The Facebook algorithm doesn't lie. This goes back to the ever-present undercurrent of not-so-subtle racism that is prevalent amongst these people. However, one page that came up which I'm really curious about is
"Native American's (sic) Of The Americas By Blood Not By Government Papers"
https://www.facebook.com/papergenocide
It's another convergence of the dubious and the legit, it seems. If anyone gets time, check that page out if you've never seen it. It's pretty active and has an interesting mix of pages the admins have chosen to "like" (FB parlance). Have a good evening, all. 
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.

Epiphany

  • Guest
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2015, 08:28:58 pm »
I appreciate the Paper Genocide site's disclaimer:

Quote
Disclaimer: Paper Genocide does not suggest in any way that every single person labeled African American or Black is a reclassified Native American Indian, some African Americans are just that, African American, just as some Hispanics and White folks are just as they are correctly labeled Hispanic and White.?

http://www.papergenocide.org/

But I think a lot of wishful thinking is going on by non-NDNs, some who then seek things to confirm their possibly mistaken beliefs, rather than doing the actual research needed.

Jon Fowler could have a professional genealogist work on his ancestry. They would know how to evaluate primary sources, how to weigh possible evidence, how to view records in light of their cultural and historical context.

Many people have a family story of NDN heritage, and they get stuck on it, they won't accept other evidence, and they even claim that they are being persecuted. But a family story does not automatically equal fact. Genealogy research really can get much closer to the actual truth.

Census takers may make mistakes. They may base their decisions on their own bias. The historical time, how race is viewed by the governments and people, all this comes into play. A neighbor may give mistaken info. The person themselves may not report accurately, or they might not be heard accurately.

Some white folks lie on government records, because they can, for instance some claim they are "Indian" on marriage certificates when they are not. Buck Ghosthorse did that, but I found out that he had legally changed his name from Leonard Albert Mattern and that he was not NDN at all. Unfortunately he had several other adults legally change their names and then continue the fraud.

Jon Fowler could have distant heritage. If he does, even his mother doesn't know what it is, even with her own genealogy work. He wasn't raised in the cultures that he claims to be presenting and educating about.

I know lots of people in Fowler's position here say they feel bullied and abused by having their claims examined. This seems to be a belief that we all should value romance over research and evidence. Really it seems like folks are anti-intellectual - they trust the good feelings they get when claiming they are NDN warriors over any facts. We white folks have all sorts of interesting and even romantic stories in our ancestry, ideally we would learn about our own heritage rather then trying to rip off something that is not ours.

Fowler has put himself in the public eye. I think it is fair to say that he is promoting misinformation and that he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2015, 05:04:26 pm »
Piff, thank you for your considerable contribution. I agree with what you've said about historical issues and the muddling of documents/oral history and such. I wrote a small 10-pager on Identity for school couple years back and found so much of the same problems (especially researching recent famous claims of ancestry) even among actual Natives. ...And this guy Spotted Horse, I'm sure I know people who've run into him. I am an uncle and brother to one of the most well-known Southern-style singing groups and will be asking among those who do performances and powwows in the area, but I have a strong feeling this man and his circle rarely venture to actual Native doings unless they're in street clothes.  That is almost always the case with the hardcore fakers. So much cultural inconsistency is unforgivable among Natives/First Nations when people are teaching or presenting. It's all in the details, as so many fakes find out the hard way. LOL
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.

Offline AClockworkWhite

  • Posts: 194
Re: Jon Fowler a.k.a. "Spotted Horse"
« Reply #13 on: April 07, 2015, 05:43:22 pm »
^I meant that part about the singing group in that they travel everywhere and take 40+ gigs a year all over the US and the rest of the weekends they stay within a short drive. They are all over Texas doing performances and powwows and we've talked about the crazies we've seen and the shenanigans we've witnessed. When I had a group several years back, we would take a lot of gigs but if someone wasn't legit or just too weird, we just wouldn't return and would warn relatives and friends about them. Now, the flip side to us and other groups taking these  gigs with folks of dubious origin and varying levels of authenticity is that it sort of legitimizes their agenda. I have accepted that at least one "tribe" was brought into the world of legitimate events and given a pass for the money they offered my family (and other Natives) as head staff at dances and festivals they put on. Now they're trying for Fed recognition and this has happened all over the US with tribes seeking legitimacy. The best way? Powwows. "See? All these recognized tribes come to join us because they know we're real Indians!" and so on and so forth. So people like Spotted Horse can hire drums made up of legit Natives and pay them to come host/sing for the dancing. In the eyes of many outsiders who have no reference for who or what is legitimate, it looks like a legit festival.
I came here for the popcorn and stayed for the slaying of pretenders.