Final post from the blog, number 5.
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Monday, January 24, 2011
There are real Natives who oppose Kiesha Crowther
I'm Oglala Lakota, there are many other Natives and non natives who oppose Kiesha as well. I happened to catch this bit of misinformation over on the tribe of many colors forum, and found it very interesting that they are telling their members that the people who oppose Kiesha are not Native. This is not true.
TOMC forum
Click on image to enlarge
The moderator, in response to a question about Natives in the United States opposing Kiesha wrote:
"The comments around that are supposedly from Native American sources... are not... they are just people who have not yet found love in their hearts trying to discredit the light".
What the moderator has done here is attempt to discredit all Natives that are opposed to what Kiesha Crowther is doing, by simply saying that there are no real Natives that are concerned. This is not true.
Another comment needing to be addressed:
Forum Admin TOMC comment
First of all, any and all contacts with Kiesha Crowther made by myself and many other Natives and non natives have all used their real names and real emails in order to try and begin a discussion with her about what she is doing with the regalia, feathers, and Sacred Ca'nupa. In response to these letters, Kiesha's assistant Jennifer Ferraro has sent out threatening letters in return, threatening to sue anyone with questions. Kiesha claims that no one wants to speak, only harass her. This is not true. There have been many who have tried to contact her, but she refuses to open a line of communication with anyone, including me. Kiesha's assistant Jennifer Ferraro recently called up and threatened the Salish Elders. This is not the way to respect our Elders.
Second, no one is against Kiesha's basic message of love, or her teachings about loving one another. This is a good message, but that message has been destroyed by her claims of being "shaman" for the Salish and Sioux tribes. This message has been destroyed by her unwillingness to respect the tribes, and Natives who struggle to preserve their scared traditions. No one wants Kiesha to stop talking about her message of love, but there are many who want Kiesha to stop advertising herself as shaman for the two tribes, wearing fake regalia in her ads, dishonest claims to ancestry, including claims to Don Alejandro who recently spoke out about not knowing her or recognizing her as a shaman for his council. Don Alejandro Statement
No one wants anyone to feel isolated or disempowered. No one is under "attack". There are many questions and claims that must be investigated and will continue to be investigated.
If you are interested in reading about how Natives feel about our protection of ceremonies, please start with Chief Arvol Looking Horse and his statement regarding that:
Statement
Kiesha's on-going appropriation of the Salish, Kootenai, and Lakota names in order to sell her workshops is very concerning to Natives, and non natives who wish to help preserve the traditions that are sacred to us. It is very real and important to us that other people all over the world of all backgrounds understand this.
Another member wrote:
Again, this is wrong. This is NOT about skin color. No one is saying they are better than another. It has nothing to do with this at all. It's about protecting our culture and ways. It's about honesty. It's about honoring our true medicine people for the tribes.
In the past six weeks, Kiesha Crowther, the woman who says that she is "shaman" over two tribes, including mine, has referred to the indigenous that oppose her as "dark", "low quality", "not of the light", "not of the heart", "black", "negative", "indian attackers", "not evolved", "not transcending", and "ignorant". Not only does she insult the indigenous, her forum administrator and moderators take part in this as well.
If Ms. Crowther and those who follow her find the Natives to be of "low quality" and "dark", perhaps, stepping completely away from the Native "framework" as she described, would be the best thing for her to do, including dropping her malicious claims that she is the "shaman for the Salish and Sioux tribes".
Please listen to Francis Auld speak in this video about the language being endangered, and the struggle to hold on to traditions.
Francis Auld
Material in this Post:
http://firstnationsdiscussculturaltheft.blogspot.com/2011/01/fair-use-statement.htmlFAIR USE NOTICE: Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
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19 comments:
Doreen Lynne Bird said...
Thank you for this post. It has been bothering me how Kiesha has referred to us as low quality or dark/black/negative people. She's only angry because we will not approve of what she is doing. As many said before she wants our ceremony and clothing and all the fame that comes with her schtik, but she does not like ndns at all. She wants it all for herself so she can be 'little grandmother' the famous young fair haired child. I wonder if her followers know that she dyes her hair? Her hair is not a natural blonde. so many of these truths need to be exposed. If her followers still want to listen to her they are welcome to it but she can drop her act of being shaman because we all know now she's not. Also a thank you for opening the comments back up for old women like me who don't want to google account.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Margie Judah said...
Kiesha will be forced to drop these claims soon. I phoned up to the Flathead reserve and they told me they are preparing to release a statement for all to see and there will be no mistaking this time that it is from them.
She has to drop her claims to Don Alejandro now and I see she has removed all traces from him off her pages.
How can these people not see what a liar she is and how can they say that her message is good when underneath that lives a hugely dishonest woman who is about to make $24 thousand off of her workshop. Will she help the people freezing on the reservation this winter? OH I doubt it. She could care less as she lives in that fancy home of hers. When Kiesha's people are challenged to donate to the Pine Ridge Reservation they looked away and didn't get involved. I see on you tube where many asked them to donate. No one responded. These people don't live in their heart they live in their bank accounts. I can't wait until this all folds like a house of cards. She has no one left to claim. She is a white mormon with no native history to her family. Time to come clean and be honest. Kiesha's people need to start being honest too. What happened to living in truth too? Or is the truth too much for them to deal with so they rather live as liars?
Monday, January 24, 2011
blackwolfcreek said...
@Doreen The comments have been opened back up to those who don't want to register. I appreciate your thoughts and your posts here and thank you for returning. All comments which turn to personal attacks on the indigenous will be removed.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Doreen Lynne Bird said...
You read over there in their rainbow cafe threads you can see these people are hypocrites. Their board leaders are the worst. They spend time putting down the ndns and making snide underhanded comments against them. The mentality there is of entitlement and anger. They are like little children tantruming because they want the ndn ceremony and people are telling them NO. They all need to go back to their own culture and roots and learn to appreciate who they were born as. None of them seem to want to be who they are. Kiesha is having a seminar called 'remember who you are' but these people don't want that. They want to be ndns and they are going to be that even if it takes making up a past life or something. Making up a relation that isn't there like Kiesha did.
Blackwolf thank you for standing up against this. What you are doing is good and you have my respect.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Anonymous said...
Hello. Thankyou for your blog. I have friends who have been in a dodgy cult for over 10 years now. Ten years is a long time out of people's lives and it's sad to see people hand their spiritual selves over to someone to exploit. No one had the sort of info about their cult that you're providing here. It may have made a difference early on.
So I'm sure that as well as protecting your own spirituality, you are actually taking steps to protect the spirituality of the people from the TOMC!
I also wanted to say something about my own spirituality- I am of celtic heritage. I began seeing auras, 'reading' energy and recalling past lives quite unbidden. I dont belong to any group and I'm confident that there are thousands, possibly millions of people like me. If a past life is recalled, to me it's silly to imagine that it's an invitation to appropriate someone elses's culture. IME, recollecting soemthing from a past life is a sign that there is something an individual needs to realise about their personal development so that they can move on. So it's not about 'oh, I think I was an indian and I need to dress up like one'. But it may well be 'I had an experience of pain once- I had contact with a healer- I am having a similar experience of pain- I am looking for a healer again...what did I do last time?' and to my way of thinking, the appropriate way of healing a past life experience is to look at the experience and take steps to heal it in the present.
The early 20th century mystic Edgar Cayce, who did a lot of past life readings, eventually stopped because he said that people were attaching themselves via the ego to the 'stories' from his readings, rather than the spirit of what was being presented for healing.
I hope you dont mind me posting all of this! I know it's a little off topic...Kiesha Crowther and her lies are challenging to me, too. I suppose my spirituality is new age, although I've never used that title- I feel that my spirituality is natural and experiential. Crowther is exploiting some aspects of my very real (unbought) spiritual experiences and possibly making it more difficult for others to open up with trust to their own experience of a universal source.
Monday, January 24, 2011
GaiaConsciousness said...
Just because your Indian doesn't mean your right about everything
If "not of the light" is false
Then what are you about???
Because it's looking a bit like Jerusalem(all love) where multiple faiths fight over a Temple or Holy place
Now I'm not saying your wrong or right but
This is the pattern there (in that city) as I'm well your aware.
tit for tat and we are not coming to a conclusion??
Monday, January 24, 2011
Anonymous said...
Would you walk into a Hindu temple and say "I'm sorry but I'm not taking my shoes off or washing my feet and hands because you people are living in the old way. We have a new way so stop doing your traditions that way. If you don't do it my way and accept my new way then you are not living in the heart. You are dark and negative".
You see, every culture on this earth has a right to be respected. I don't think you read the entirety of this blog post. No one has said they are better, or that they are right about everything. Open your ears open your eyes. They are simply saying don't bastardize their traditions. And no, you do not have a right to their ceremonies or traditions no more than I do. I'm white irish. I have no right to use them as I want and neither do you. It's like saying you have a right to walk into that Hindu temple and demand to do their ceremonies your way. It does not work that way.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Doreen Lynne Bird said...
Gaia, what are you talking about 'of the light'? I am an ndn and I don't call how I live as being 'in the light'. That is new age speak. I live by my beliefs which are to be honest, to treat everyone with respect, to love, and protect. I honor mother earth and father sky, all our two leggeds and flying ones. You have a different speech for what you call living in the light. I just live by what is good. You make assumptions that ndns don't live in the light. You have much to learn if you don't understand another's beliefs. It's better to learn than to put that person down and assume they aren't 'in the light'. That's not fair. Kiesha has been teaching her people that anyone who does not believe in what she believes is not a good person and that is where you set up many problems.
Monday, January 24, 2011
