NAFPS Forum

General => Frauds => Topic started by: Four Winds on July 17, 2011, 12:34:13 am

Title: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Four Winds on July 17, 2011, 12:34:13 am
test
Title: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Four Winds on July 17, 2011, 02:34:45 am
Hey, I deleted this post. I made a mistake regarding identifying someone from a specific club I'm not a member of that club so I didn't know I shoudln't have done that since it breaks their rules. I apologize if I offended anyone. I was simply posting a friend's query but I should have doubled checked myself before posting. Again, I apologize.
Title: Re: nature's retreat outside of Toronto, Ontario
Post by: nemesis on July 17, 2011, 08:42:53 am
I think that this is your man

Rocky Montesano
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1389785359

Turtle Lodge FB page here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Turtle-Lodge/120821970855

website
http://theturtlelodge.org/

suggests that the lodge was founded by David Courchene, (Nii Gaani Aki Innini – Leading Earth Man)
Anishnabe Nation, Eagle Clan (Manitoba, Canada).

more info on him here
http://theturtlelodge.org/daveCourchene.html


the page on "ceremonies" has the following text:
Ceremonies

The Turtle Lodge is a place of ceremony.   Ceremony is an integral part of all Turtle Lodge programs, which may include the sacred fire, pipe ceremony, and sweat lodge ceremony.   Individuals are welcome to spend time in the Turtle Lodge for personal prayer and fasting.  Major seasonal ceremonies continue to be led by the Turtle Lodge on-site and sometimes at other locations throughout the year, to give thanks and ensure the survival of a good and peaceful way of life.

People coming to ceremonies are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements, bring their own bedding and supplies, e.g. plates, cups, toilet paper, etc. and are asked to clean up after themselves at the ceremonial lodges.  Potluck feasts are held at many of the ceremonies. Those coming may bring their sacred items, tobacco ties, prepared food for the feasts and a donation. The offerings help cover the costs of firewood, lodge maintenance, feasts, etc. Those who are fasting may camp outside or inside the lodge.

Everyone is welcome to the ceremonies. Women are asked to wear long skirts. Women on their moontime are asked to refrain from coming to the ceremonies, except the Mother Earth Lodge, where they are welcome to participate. Those on their moontime are also welcome to attend Igniting the Fire - The Sacred Gathering, and excuse themselves from the Sunrise and other ceremonies. The Elders can provide teachings on this.



Ceremonies 2010 - 2011

Winter Ceremonies
Participants may choose to fast.
Location: Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  December 21, 22, 23 & 24, 2010
Potluck Feasts:  December 21 (evening), 24 (noon)
Windigokon Ceremony 
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  February 4 & 5, 2011
Potluck Feasts:  February 4, 5 (evenings)

Warrior Dance (Men & Women)
& Mother Earth Lodge (Women)
Participants may choose to fast.
Men to camp outside, women may camp outside or inside Turtle Lodge.
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  May 17, 18, 19 & 20, 2011
Potluck Feasts:  May 17, 20 (evenings)

Mother Earth Lodge (Women)
Participants may choose to fast.
Women may camp outside or inside Turtle Lodge.
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  June 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2011 beginning 9 am June 15

Women on their moontime are invited to attend the Mother Earth Lodge.. Women attending the Mother Earth Lodge are asked to bring uncooked food which they will be preparing on the sacred fires for the Traditional Meal.

Vision Quest (Boys/Men)
& Makoose Ka Win (Young Women's Rites of Passage)
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  June 10-14, 2011.
Volunteers welcome. We have made arrangements to accommodate 50 boys, 50 girls and their mentors. See http://theturtlelodge.org/visionquest.html.

Sundance
Dancers will fast for four days.
Camping outside Turtle Lodge only.
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  July 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2011 (Going-in Potluck Feast, Camp Day July 14)
Potluck Feasts:  July 14 (5:30 pm), 18 (noon)

Families & communities are invited to sponsor the Visitors' Feasts (approx 100 people) daily at 2 pm: Please contact turtlelodge@mts.net if you are interested in sponsoring one of the Visitors Feasts.

Igniting the Fire Gathering (www.ignitingfire.org)
Location:  Manitou Api, near petroform site, Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba
Dates:  September 13, 14, 15 & 16, 2011
Potluck Feasts:  September 13 (noon), 16 (noon)

Ghost Dance (Chii By Dance)
Participants may choose to fast.
Location:  Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  October 11, 12, 13 & 14, 2011
Potluck Feasts: October 11, 14

Winter Ceremonies
Participants may choose to fast.
Location: Turtle Lodge, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
Dates:  December 21, 22, 23 & 24, 2011
Potluck Feasts:  December 21 (evening), 24 (noon)

DIRECTIONS TO THE TURTLE LODGE & ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION AT http://theturtlelodge.org/visit.html.
Please contact turtlelodge@mts.net if you have any questions.


http://theturtlelodge.org/ceremony.html
Title: Re: nature's retreat outside of Toronto, Ontario
Post by: Four Winds on July 18, 2011, 12:41:22 am
So i  think that rocky m is  probably a student of Dave Courchene. and it sounds like the turtle lodge is the real deal, so i;m assuming the wisdom passed down would be sound.

i guess i just flagged it when people mix first nations spirituality and catholicism/christianity in the same breath.
Title: Re: nature's retreat outside of Toronto, Ontario
Post by: Smart Mule on July 18, 2011, 01:06:23 am
Do you really think it's appropriate for you to post about an individual you found through a 12 step program and make that particular fact public?  Regardless of whether he is indian or not that is a significant breach of confidentiality.

I know more canadian aborigonals than not who combine tradition with christianity.  Most of them being elders and Elders.
Title: Re: nature's retreat outside of Toronto, Ontario
Post by: Four Winds on July 18, 2011, 01:15:10 am
Referece removed.
Title: Hei
Post by: Four Winds on July 22, 2011, 05:12:07 am
I'm Saami. Please don't call me a Lapp cuz that is demeaning.

I heard thru the wind that Little Grandmother has in the past called herself Saami and might try to do it again to explain the white skinned, pale hair/eyes and her lies about being an indigenous shaman. Ya, that bothers me. She should not think she can just jump over to this continent to avoid the controversies on yours.

Title: Re: Hei
Post by: Freija on July 22, 2011, 02:56:37 pm
Hej - nice to meet you. I´m from Sweden and have the honor of working with Saamis in order to reduce the exploitation of indigenous cultures. Do you live in Scandinavia?

As far as I know, Kiesha has never claimed to be Saami. But she claimed to work with you guys (just like she has worked with most other Native peoples - according to herself). I doubt she is aware of how many different kind of Saami cultures there are.

Also, in case you didn´t know it, the Saamis have been caretakers of a crystal buried deep in the ice on the North Pole (or was it Greenland?) which was handed over to Kiesha for her to rebury out on a field in central Sweden. Not even my Saami friends knew about this.....amazing!  ::)  ;) ;D ;D

Anyway, welcome on board!
Title: Don't Get Burned by Fake Authors
Post by: educatedindian on August 14, 2014, 10:20:45 pm
A pretty good write up by a white Canadian activist. She's obviously read our site, sites of people we've worked with, or sites by people who have. There's even a little information on a few frauds we may have not covered and some new information on ones we have.

-------
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/krystalline-kraus/2014/08/dont-get-burned-fake-first-nations-american-indian-books-an
Don't get burned by fake First Nations, American Indian books and authors
 By Krystalline Kraus | August 12, 2014

I can certainly appreciate and always encourage Canadians (in fact, anyone) to learn more about First Nations culture. This is one major step forward in Indigenous - Settler relations.

The key here is approaching the topic in a good way. By this I mean avoiding the tragic and, if I may say capitalist, publication of books and pseudo-taro-medicine-cards by authors who have no business making money off other people's life experiences or spiritual beliefs.

Here is a special warning about books written by authors who claim to be "shamans" -- which, by the way, is not even an Amerindian word.

Stay away from any author:
"Claiming to be American Indian shamans, talking about tarot cards and Wiccan/pagan things, or talking about crystals and New Age things. I've got nothing against shamanism, paganism, or the New Age, but a cow is not a horse: none of these things are traditionally Native American. Shamanism is a Siberian mystic tradition, Wicca is a religion based in pre-Christian European traditions, Tarot readings are an Indo-European divination method, and the New Age is a syncretic belief system invented, as its name suggests, in the modern era. None of them have anything to do with authentic Indian traditions, and anyone who thinks they do is likely to be wrong about anything else he claims about Native American religions as well. Wiccans and New Agers don't have any more knowledge about actual American Indian beliefs than you do."

Before I go on, let me tell you a little story about a man named Carlos Castenada.

Castenada was once granted the title of "the Godfather of New Age" by Time Magazine. But please don't consider this an endorsement because he was a complete fraud. Let me tell you why.
 
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-American author who had a PhD in anthropology. He decided one day -- don't ask me what he was thinking at the time, but probably how to make himself famous and earn lots of money -- to impersonate an Indigenous Yaqui "shaman" he named Don Juan Matus and write a series of books in a first-person narrative about the topic of shamanism. In total, his 12 books have sold over 28 million copies and have been translated into seventeen different languages.

The big problem is: there was no Yaqui "Shaman" or "Man of Knowledge" as Castaneda quoted and wrote about in this books. There was no "Don Juan Matus." He didn't exist. He never existed. All that first-person narration of "shamanistic" insights, teachings and spiritual guidance were works of fiction, not fact.

By 1973, because the rising controversy surrounding him and his doctoral education at UCLA, he went to ground, where according to his biography he lived in a big house with three women in a cult-like setting as he founded the organization Cleargreen (and yes, it's made of people).

From Cleargreen's statement of purpose: "The name of Cleargreen stems from an idea that sorcerers who lived in Mexico in ancient times had about the configuration of our human energy. They believed that different kinds of energy had different hues, and that human energy has now an off-white coloration, but that at one time it was clear green."

Canstaneda died in 1998. He was cremated. There was no public service. In fact, the public did not even know of his death until two months later in an obituary titled, "A Hushed Death for Mystic Author Carlos Castaneda" by staff writer J. R. Moehringer for the Los Angeles Times.

Canstaneda's fraudulent works, populated by fake shamans and lots of peyote, began to get challenged roughly five years after he published and things started to unravel. While Canstaneda's books are still bought and sold -- there was a copy in the Native Canadian Friendship Centre of Toronto the last time I checked -- it's pretty much understood that it was all an elaborate hoax from an attention-seeking, money-seeking, PhD student from UCLA.

In a 2007 article in Salon Magazine titled, "The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda," author Robert Marshall writes, "The books' status as serious anthropology went almost unchallenged for five years. Skepticism increased in 1972 after Joyce Carol Oates, in a letter to the New York Times, expressed bewilderment that a reviewer had accepted Castaneda's books as nonfiction. The next year, Time published a cover story revealing that Castaneda had lied extensively about his past. Over the next decade, several researchers, most prominently Richard de Mille, son of the legendary director, worked tirelessly to demonstrate that Castaneda's work was a hoax."

There are many reasons why such acts of frauds are so tragic, as they not only displace books by authentic First Nations/Native American authors, but since they are sold as truth, the public will believe everything that they read.

So what did the world learn from the trickery of Castenada? Be wary of what you read and what you believe.

So if you're curious about checking out some books on First Nations/American Indian spirituality, before you invest any time or money into any books or authors or courses or taro-medicine-cards, please cross-check the author of the book you're interested in with this list below. I want to note that I did not compile this list myself.

[Also note that I will be tackling the issue of information on the Internet in another post since there is lots to talk about. But essentially, the best method would be to personally approach ths subject, not simply read about it.]

So here is the list that I am asking you to cross-reference to before you pick up or pay.
~ Wolf Moondance
~ Morgan Eaglebear , or Morgan Eaglebear Maez
(There is a letter written by the APACHE NATION which definitely REFUTES Morgan's claim to be related to Geronimo, OR to being a member of that NATION! Look for it on American Indian Movement websites, especially the Virginia chapter!)
~ Brooke Medicine Eagle
~ EARTH THUNDER
~ JAMIE SAMS
~ Hyemeyohsts Storm, Wolf Storm
~ Swan Storm
~ Mary Summer Rain
~ White Crystal Feather
~ Ghostwolf, aka Robert Ghostwolf Franzone
~ Lynn V. Andrews
~ Manny Two Feathers
~ Michael Harner
~ David Carson
~ Randy Tate, aka Randy Two Bears Standing Tate, aka Chief Two Bears Standing Tate,
ShaunaSay Tate, aka ShaunaSay Whitefeather Tate, aka leader of Red Nation of the Cherokee.
~ Neeshanha, aka Kat Lonergan
~ Dhyani Ywahoo, born Diane Fisher
~ Rainbow Eagle, real name Roland Willston
~ Roy Steevensz, aka Roy Little Sun
~ Mary Elizabeth Thunder, aka Mary Thunder, real name Mary Grimes
~ Standing Bear , Aka Standing Bear Moore, aka Manataka, real name Randy Lee Moore
~ Don Miguel, aka Don Miguel Ruiz, aka Sixth Sun
~ Carlos Castenada
~ Marlo Morgan
~ Christine Olinger, aka White Raven
~ Soaring Paw N Hooves Cawley, aka Selma Palmer
~ Dreamwalker, aka Thunderwarriors, aka Tony Dreamwalker, aka Tony Press
~ Bernyce Barlow
~ Don Two Eagles Waterhawk, aka Don Waterhawk, real name Donald R. Cakerice
~ Tom Netz, aka Chief Soft Shell Turtle, aka Ahkootya
~ Carmen Sunrising Pope
~ Katherine Cheshire, aka Dep See Mana
~ Buck Ghost Horse
~ Vicki Ghost Horse
~ Paul Ghost Horse
~ Carole Eagleheart
~ Roy Wilson, Medicine Wheel Tribe
~ Wind Wolf Woman, aka Sunbeam, aka Mahinto
~ Lynda Yraceburu
~ Maria Yraceburu, aka Naylin
~ Dorothy Deagle, aka Dorothy Daigle, aka Red Hat
~ Red Elk, real name Gerald Osbourne
~ Londuv, aka Melanie Hofsteters, aka Melanie Kennedy
~ Many Knives, Bo or Boe Glasschild
~ Duncan Sings Alone, aka C W Duncan
~ Ed McGaa, aka Eagle Man
*Lakota Oyate, NOT US, has him on their not recommended list. Contact the NATION! WE DID!*
~ Jeanne Marie Troge

And not to leave you hanging, here is a website that lists some books by authors who are authentic and whom you should check out.

--God is Red: A Native View of Religion: Book by respected Lakota author Vine Deloria, Jr. comparing Christianity and native religions. It's a controversial book, requires critical thinking skills. I recommend it for adult readers.
--Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: This is really the book you want if you're trying to write an essay about Native American beliefs, or just curious about world religions. Lots of accurate information here.
--Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Collection of in-depth anthropological essays on a dozen different Native American religions.
--The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life: An interesting book on Native American spirituality by three Indian women from different tribal traditions.
--South and Meso-American Native Spirituality: An overview of Indian religions in countries other than the US and Canada.
Native and Christian: A series of essays by Native American authors on their experiences blending Christianity and Indian spirituality.
American Indian Myths and Legends: Well-attributed collection of many diverse traditional stories of Native America.
-Happy Reading
Title: Re: Don't Get Burned by Fake Authors
Post by: Smart Mule on August 14, 2014, 11:24:37 pm
Krystalline herself is problematic.  She has appropriated Sámi culture and has come up with a fantastical background story.  She also has issues with proper protocol, attempting to throw a respected elder under the bus here, when called on it she deleted her comments.


http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3363.msg29150#msg29150 (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3363.msg29150#msg29150)
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3366.msg29097#msg29097 (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3366.msg29097#msg29097)
Title: Re: Don't Get Burned by Fake Authors
Post by: RedRightHand on August 15, 2014, 09:31:54 pm
Krystalline Kraus is a pretendian and an appropriator.

She posted pictures on facebook of herself making herself a man's catlinite pipe.  She is now dying her hair dark brown, wearing it in two braids and using dark foundation makeup. Krystalline has a twin sister who, like Krystalline, has naturally blond hair and pale skin, and does not claim to be Indigenous. In earlier blog posts, now removed, Krystalline called herself and her family "white trash."  Then she changed her mind and claimed she was adopted. Then her story changed a few more times. 

Now she is going to interfaith spiritual events, misrepresenting herself as Indigenous, and doing fake NDN ceremonies for other white people. She "smudged" a church.  At INM actions she has insisted on speaking for Indigenous people to the press.

She is attacking obvious frauds to try to deflect attention from what she is doing.
Title: Re: Hei
Post by: RedRightHand on August 15, 2014, 09:35:59 pm
I'm Saami. Please don't call me a Lapp cuz that is demeaning.

I heard thru the wind that Little Grandmother has in the past called herself Saami and might try to do it again to explain the white skinned, pale hair/eyes and her lies about being an indigenous shaman. Ya, that bothers me. She should not think she can just jump over to this continent to avoid the controversies on yours.

Quoting the post since she likes deleting her incriminating words.
Title: Re: Hei
Post by: Defend the Sacred on August 15, 2014, 09:43:58 pm
What continent? "Four Winds" is posting from Canada.
Title: Re: Don't Get Burned by Fake NDNs, Fake Activists, Fake Saami
Post by: RedRightHand on August 21, 2014, 07:09:30 pm
Looking over the list Ms. Kraus posted, there is no original or substantial work here. She simply copied and pasted - plagiarized - a ten year old list compiled by actual activists.  Most of these frauds are already abundantly well-known, or no longer active, or in some cases, dead. This list is not up to date, nor does it take any risks.

This is a classic example of "look at that huge, obvious, famous fraud over there and don't look at me, the fraud behind the curtain."

Kraus's heritage is German and Russian, not Saami.  She has no day job, but turns up at all the demos with expensive camera equipment, taking photos of Natives and insisting on speaking for Natives to the pres. You do the math. 

Title: Re: Hei
Post by: RedRightHand on May 06, 2015, 09:15:57 pm
I'm Saami. Please don't call me a Lapp cuz that is demeaning.

I heard thru the wind that Little Grandmother has in the past called herself Saami and might try to do it again to explain the white skinned, pale hair/eyes and her lies about being an indigenous shaman. Ya, that bothers me. She should not think she can just jump over to this continent to avoid the controversies on yours.

Don't worry, we won't call you a Lapp. But we won't call you Saami, either. You're a German-Canadian pretendian who's been causing all kinds of problems for the real Saami people. You should be ashamed of yourself, coming here and lying like that.
Title: Re: Hei
Post by: AClockworkWhite on May 21, 2015, 10:02:11 pm
Oh goodness. Caught before the act even happened!
Title: Re: Hei
Post by: AClockworkWhite on May 21, 2015, 10:06:21 pm
 Never mind. That act is in an extended run here, I see. LOL
Title: Re: Hei
Post by: E.P. Grondine on May 21, 2015, 11:41:09 pm
Interesting name,
but I'll have to leave the name"SipsShineWithRednecks" for someone else.

The people here generally know who they are, and are very rigorous about facts,
as peoples' lives, sanity, reputations, and spiritual well being are at stake.

If you are unclear about any of them, you will be reminded.
Sometimes hard reminders are given, sometimes very quickly.

Title: Re: Hei
Post by: AClockworkWhite on May 22, 2015, 04:25:48 am
Huh? Sorry. You lost me.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on May 23, 2015, 09:30:04 pm
Hey, I deleted this post. I made a mistake regarding identifying someone from a specific club I'm not a member of that club so I didn't know I shoudln't have done that since it breaks their rules. I apologize if I offended anyone. I was simply posting a friend's query but I should have doubled checked myself before posting. Again, I apologize.

Bullshit, Krystalline. You violated the protocol of the twelve-step group you attended and broke confidentiality. I tend to think you were court-ordered to attend, given the other questions that surround your history and your recent presence and behavior at demos.

So i  think that rocky m is  probably a student of Dave Courchene. and it sounds like the turtle lodge is the real deal, so i;m assuming the wisdom passed down would be sound.

i guess i just flagged it when people mix first nations spirituality and catholicism/christianity in the same breath.

You tried to use us to attack people who have welcomed you to ceremony. Whether or not those ceremonies are authentic, or theirs to lead, or done correctly, you lied. Before you came here you had already posted pictures of yourself smiling with these two individuals on your Facebook page. You posted photos of yourself with them at a restaurant and at Turtle Lodge itself. There are also videos of you online singing songs you claimed you learned from these men.  You tried to set us up, and throw people who thought you were their friend under the bus. You are a provocateur. 

You also posted pictures from a Canadian sun dance that were not yours to take or post. If someone said you could take those photos, they don't know basic protocol. 

There are some questions and issues around Courchene, but the main criticism I've heard is that he's made the mistake of letting white appropriators like you in, who then go out and misrepresent yourselves, and try to turn what little you know into a commodity for media attention and agendas that look to be even worse.
Title: Re: Don't Get Burned by Fake NDNs, Fake Activists, Fake Saami
Post by: guest1 on July 30, 2015, 01:03:52 pm
Kraus's heritage is German and Russian, not Saami. 

To be fair, the Sami lands stretched across northern Scandinavia, Finland and Russia. According to Wikipedia:
Quote
Since prehistoric times, the Sami people of Arctic Europe have lived and worked in an area that stretches over the regions now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. They have inhabited the northern arctic and sub-arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 5,000 years.
You can read more about Russian Sami at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people#Russia

Until recently, it wasn't unusual for mixed families whose ancestors included members of a discriminated group to treat that as a family secret and not tell the children so it's quite possible Krystalline didn't learn of her Sami heritage until adulthood, and then embraced it. There are certainly numerous examples of people who grew up not realizing that a grandparent (or even a parent) was Roma, or Jewish, or Black, or Indian. I can't speak to the other criticisms about Krystalline's conduct in indigenous circles but I don't think it's fair to accuse her of faking her heritage without proof (and having part Russian ancestry would actually be consistent with being Sami).
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Smart Mule on July 30, 2015, 03:38:57 pm
Guest, she's posted ridiculous fantasies about having herded reindeer as a child and other outlandish untrue claims. She grew up in Canada. Her twin sister is honest and admits Krystalline is a liar.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: AClockworkWhite on July 30, 2015, 06:52:46 pm
OMG what a fake ass. Her FB profile makes me sick. https://www.facebook.com/krystalline.kraus?fref=ts
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on July 30, 2015, 07:49:59 pm
To be fair, "guest1," I will disclose that I have spoken directly with Saami people about her. Real ones. Not the hobbyists who've never even been to Sapmi. They are concerned about her misrepresentations. They do not claim her.

Just like Europeans who don't know how to evaluate the claims of pretendians who head to Europe and lie about who they are, Americans, Canadians, and even most Europeans don't know enough to evaluate fake Saami claims. Just like you with your Wiki quote. That's the only reason she's gotten away with this as long as she has.

She has been exposed over and over again, and she keeps on lying. All she's done is try to hide the evidence, like when she took down the "white trash" blog (her words of self-definition).

If she has distant blood, which is highly doubtful, that doesn't make her Saami as she's not part of the community. She hangs with the other fakes and pretend-Saami, and then she sucks up to NDNs, lying about who she is, trying to learn ceremonial things she can then "share" with white people. Preferably when the media is present. Ask her about the time she smudged the church. Or the plains-style man's pipe she made for herself. Or her "vision quest". Yeah, soooo Saami.

And if you're serious about fighting fraud, and not just defending it, how about going to the intro section and introducing yourself?
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: guest1 on July 30, 2015, 10:47:26 pm
I'm not Indigenous or a New Ager so I'm not expecting to have anything more to contribute to this forum. I've met Krystal a few times  and accepted her self-identification as Sami at face value and have given her the benefit of the doubt so when I stumbled upon this site via Google and saw the statement that she's not Sami but of mixed German/Russian ancestry I, giving her the benefit of the doubt, thought I should point out that there are also Samis in northern Russia. You seem to have more evidence and I don't have anything to respond with because I don't have any other info - and I'm not here to defend or excuse her if she is engaging in cultural appropriation and misrepresenting her ancestry. If that is the case, then it's very unfortunate. I don't think she's doing it maliciously, maybe she's yearning for some meaning in her life and maybe this is a way to cope with some of the issues in her life, but that doesn't justify what you're accusing her of. I really don't know what to say. From a compassionate place, what steps do people suggest she (or anyone else in her situation) take in order to get out of the hole they've dug for themselves?
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Smart Mule on July 30, 2015, 11:05:06 pm
Guest, aside from the false claims of Saami, she came to THIS SITE and trashed her friend and supposed Elder. She lied, bold face lied about never having been in recovery (being in recovery is nothing to be ashamed of) as an excuse for having trashed people who were kind to her. Watch your back. You could be next for simply coming here and resurrecting the thread.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on July 30, 2015, 11:56:10 pm
Guest, Russians and Germans living in the lands their ancestors drove the Saami from are not Saami any more than white people living in America are Indians.



Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on July 31, 2015, 12:09:08 am
Here she is with Montesano and Courchene, three months before she came here and pretended not to know them.

Also included is a photo she posted of herself making the catlinite pipe along with an excerpt from her 2006 blog where she self-identifies as "white trash," and an additional blog post where she uses her email, publicly. These were all public posts. She chose to post this stuff about herself on the Internet.

No one has to "accuse" her of anything. She did it to herself.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: guest1 on August 01, 2015, 04:21:46 am
Has anyone challenged her on this face to face? How did she respond?
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Smart Mule on August 01, 2015, 05:10:56 pm
It is my understanding that a number of people have called her on her bs and she then targets them with lies, rumors and innuendo. I don't live in Toronto so I don't have the ability to confront her in person.

Perhaps you could ask her where in Sapmi she and her sister were born and which Saami community her family resides in? Or why she felt it was acceptable to lie on this forum about people who were nothing but kind to her?
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: emj023 on June 20, 2016, 01:45:00 pm
I know this is an old thread. A friend tipped me off to a thread about KK, who I have suspected is making false claims to Sámi identity for a while now.

I feel a few words about the loose and spread out descendents of Sámi immigrants to North America is in order.

 There are literally thousands of North Americans with Sámi heritage and they are fanned out across the North American continent. They have been loosely organized into groups since the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, with social media, more and more descendents of Sámi immigrants are able to connect and share their stories of a heritage with one another. This heritage was often hidden, mostly due to colonization in Sápmi. Some of them carry real intergeneration trauma and pain that is directly connected to their Sámi ancestors' experiences of cultural duress under colonial regimes. Many of them are great allies to Native Americans and First Nations people and they walk humbly and speak quietly. Many of them have spent countless hours on their genealogies and researching history. The Sámi colonial history is different from North American experiences and the Sámi have their own way of deciding who is and who is not a Sámi, in short, in Sápmi, it is directly tied to the language, how that is formulated depends on each country.

Briefly, the Sámi North American community is tremondously diverse and has fairly limited offical leadership roles. Thus, with the nature of a hidden immigration narrative, historical trauma and the fact that the Sámi don't always "look" stereotypically Indigenous (although some do, and we are pegged in our home countries quite easily by our looks and dialect), Sámi identity in North America is very easily co-opted and exploited. Many people who have been rejected by the Native American/First Nations communities, will then all of a sudden find some long, lost, Sámi ancestor from the homelands and glom onto it. BUT, and this is important, the Sámi American community has traditionally and udnerstandably been open to everyone. There is nothing to gain from Sámi identity in North America in terms of funding or land rights. The stakes are not very high so people have generally just dismissed them or tried to compassionately take into account that some of these people have been mentally ill or lonely.

The vast majority of people with Sámi roots in North America will never be able to travel to the Sámi lands. That does not de-legitimate their claims to identify with a heritage that has been hidden from them due to colonization.

Which leads me to the final issue, and why it is important to call out North American "Sami" frauds, namely: THEY DROWN OUT the legimate voices of those who have real claims to Sámi American belonging. When they start using bizarre claims and co-opting and desecrating our pre-Christian practices and they claim Sámi identity for dubious ends, then they must be called and stopped.

Also, it appears that there are many more of the "unchecked" wannabees in Canada than in the US, perhaps owing to the lack of an organization or offical group that sets some sort of parameters, or due to the limited knowledge of the Sámi and Sámi immigration to Canada.

Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on March 19, 2018, 07:34:29 pm
The Saami lie didn't work so now she's claiming to be an Ojibwe healer or something. No traditional people have heard of her, except for having heard complaints.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: RedRightHand on March 19, 2018, 07:45:58 pm
If I'm reading her claims correctly, she's claiming to do "traditional" "Ojibwe" healing on people.  Since we've now heard thoroughly that she is neither, this is getting into serious fraud territory. It was bad enough when she was claiming to speak for indigenous people to the press during Idle No More. But if she's claiming to heal people, people who are looking for Native healers, that is fraud.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Sparks on March 21, 2018, 02:21:01 am
… now she's claiming to be an Ojibwe healer or something.
If I'm reading her claims correctly, she's claiming to do "traditional" "Ojibwe" healing on people.

Where can I read her claims, or read about them? Google was of no help this time.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Smart Mule on March 21, 2018, 03:19:24 pm
Her claims are on her Facebook page.
Title: Re: Krystalline Kraus attacks Dave Courchene
Post by: Diana on March 21, 2018, 05:23:21 pm
Wow! Just checked out her Facebook page and she's got that CRAZY EYES thing going on. Lol!